Montgomery County Board of Education members unanimously adopted a new community involvement policy Tuesday, despite strong objections from the county’s more than 50,000-member Parent Teacher Association, which says it has been left out.
The policy, which was worked on for months at the committee level, essentially updates the former policy that had been untouched for 30 years, board member Sharon Cox said.
In broad terms, the new language emphasizes the need for schools to seek input on school matters from a diverse array of agencies in the community.
The problem the PTA has is that it was not mentioned by name as an interested community group, even though the past policy specifically spoke of thePTA.
“This revision presents a stark contrast to the previous policy … and appears to be one more step in the Board of Education’s efforts to marginalize PTAs at the local level and countywide,” PTA President Jane de Winter said during the public comment period of the meeting.
The board’s response, though, was that the PTA is mentioned outright in the Parent Involvement Policy, considered an accompanying and related policy.
Board member Patricia O’Neill, calling herself a dues-paying PTA member, said the intention was never to “dis” the PTA, only to include everyone.
Cox added that she regrets the perception of the board trying to suppress the parent agency.
“It’s not the intent to minimize the role of the PTA,” she said. “We desire to work with all organizations equally.”
