Austin News: Del Valle ISD: We don't need no stinkin' PTAs - AustinChronicle.com:
"On its website, the Del Valle Independent School District says it 'values ALL forms of parent involvement.' Yet parents are finding there is one form that the district administration doesn't value highly enough to allow on campus: parent-teacher associations. After being rebuffed in her efforts to establish PTAs to assist staff and students, Del Valle Elementary School parent Liliana Orozco said: 'Why don't they want us to get organized on our own? I just don't understand, and the other parents are baffled.'"
Covering much of southeast Travis County, Del Valle ISD faces complex challenges. Even though it achieved "recognized" status in the state's latest accountability ratings, 27.5% of its 2008-09 enrollment of 9,555 students were classified by the Texas Education Agency as having limited English proficiency and 79.2% were classified as economically disadvantaged.
Determined to help out on campus, Orozco tried to join her local PTA but found there wasn't one at any of the district's 12 schools. Convinced that she could find the 20 parents required to form a PTA and that additional parents would pay the required $4 annual fee, she tried to get the administration to assist this new parent initiative.
Yet at successive meetings with Del Valle Elementary School Principal Bertha Hernandez, the board of trustees, and Superintendent Bernard Blanchard, parents got the same message: The district doesn't have PTAs and so far has rejected all requests to formally discuss the matter at the board level. Orozco said, "They don't seem to be interested in finding out what good a PTA can do for the district."
Texas PTA Executive Director Kyle Ward called the administration's push-back "stronger than anything I have seen in my three-and-a-half years here." He said Blanchard had told him that here had been independent parent-teacher organizations, but they had fallen apart over funding and nonprofit tax status issues – two decades ago. Now each campus has a parent-involvement committee, operated by the administration. Del Valle ISD Communications and Community Relations Director Celina Bley explained, "Each campus meets with parents and talks with parents about different upcoming events and volunteer opportunities."
"On its website, the Del Valle Independent School District says it 'values ALL forms of parent involvement.' Yet parents are finding there is one form that the district administration doesn't value highly enough to allow on campus: parent-teacher associations. After being rebuffed in her efforts to establish PTAs to assist staff and students, Del Valle Elementary School parent Liliana Orozco said: 'Why don't they want us to get organized on our own? I just don't understand, and the other parents are baffled.'"
Covering much of southeast Travis County, Del Valle ISD faces complex challenges. Even though it achieved "recognized" status in the state's latest accountability ratings, 27.5% of its 2008-09 enrollment of 9,555 students were classified by the Texas Education Agency as having limited English proficiency and 79.2% were classified as economically disadvantaged.
Determined to help out on campus, Orozco tried to join her local PTA but found there wasn't one at any of the district's 12 schools. Convinced that she could find the 20 parents required to form a PTA and that additional parents would pay the required $4 annual fee, she tried to get the administration to assist this new parent initiative.
Yet at successive meetings with Del Valle Elementary School Principal Bertha Hernandez, the board of trustees, and Superintendent Bernard Blanchard, parents got the same message: The district doesn't have PTAs and so far has rejected all requests to formally discuss the matter at the board level. Orozco said, "They don't seem to be interested in finding out what good a PTA can do for the district."
Texas PTA Executive Director Kyle Ward called the administration's push-back "stronger than anything I have seen in my three-and-a-half years here." He said Blanchard had told him that here had been independent parent-teacher organizations, but they had fallen apart over funding and nonprofit tax status issues – two decades ago. Now each campus has a parent-involvement committee, operated by the administration. Del Valle ISD Communications and Community Relations Director Celina Bley explained, "Each campus meets with parents and talks with parents about different upcoming events and volunteer opportunities."