Dear Franklin-Randall Families,
Thank you so much for all your PTO survey submissions at the beginning of the school year. We received about 200 surveys back. Multiple board members and school staff worked together to create the survey, get it handed out, and get all the data entered.I am so grateful to them and to all of you for helping us get this information. The PTO serves the Franklin-Randall school community, but we all have different reasons for joining the board. My greatest goal on the PTO board is to serve the families of Franklin-Randall through community-building and inclusivity. Gaining a better understanding of what families want and expect from the PTO is a necessary part of that and I welcome your continued feedback, suggestions, and input.
The survey data has all been entered and we are working on interpreting the results. I want to share some preliminary results and actions with you. Overall, people see the role of the PTO as fundraising, communication, events, volunteer opportunities/coordination, informing about policies, support, and community building. This is very much in line with how the board sees the PTO as well.
By and large the communities see the PTO as filling the correct roles. About half the time, when someone expected the PTO to fill a different role than they perceived it to fill, they listed one of the above. When someone had a different expectation of the PTO, they usually listed: advocacy (including advocacy for school improvement/district policy, equity, and directly between parents and the school), equity and anti-racism work, and inclusivity (both in the school and in the PTO). There was also a strong desire for community stated throughout survey submissions.
As we move through spring semester, the PTO Board will continue to fill the obligations required by the bylaws while also examining new, and hopefully better, ways that we can support the families of Franklin-Randall. We are continuing to adjust PTO Community Meetings to better meet the needs of the community. Our February Community Meeting topic will be child development - the most highly ranked topic from the survey. It will include a panel discussion with an emphasis on questions and discussion with each other. The board is looking at the success of and participation in these meetings to assess if parents/families would be better served by a different type of community gathering. The community meeting organizers are also developing new and varied ways of connection and communication. There will be more updates about the actions of the PTO board in the newsletter, on the F-R listserv, and in the Friends of Franklin-Randall Facebook group, but there will also be more encouragement to connect, share, and build community. Thanks for looking out for more community opportunities and sharing with us and the parents of F-R as we go. Your feedback is welcome and appreciated. You can reach the PTO board at:
board@franklinrandallpto.org
In Community,
Coral Conant Gilles
F-R PTO Community Meeting Co-facilitator
