The PTA charters in Manville have no requirements about the composition of the boards.
By: Eileen Oldfield
Disgruntled Alexander Batcho Intermediate School parents took the mike and voiced their concerns about the school’s Parent-Teacher Association at the Board of Education meeting Tuesday.
"If the first contact with a parent is a negative one, you are not going to have a good relationship," said a parent who requested anonymity at the meeting.
According to the parents at the meeting, the school faculty is inaccessible, and meet parents’ attempts to get involved with hostility.
Many did not want their identities revealed, and refused comments after the meeting.
The parents cited the recent PTA executive board elections, where staff members were elected to the three executive positions. The election meeting, which was attended by 22 staff members and eight parents, came down to staff against parents, said parents.
Other parents mentioned rude treatment from staff members, and feeling unwelcome at PTA meetings.
"I know there is a genuine concern about retribution from staff members to parents," said another anonymous parent. "There are things that need to happen to improve this situation."
Kathleen Malinowski, a teacher at the school and the vice president of the PTA, feels differently about the situation.
"Papers were sent home for people who wanted to run for office," said Ms. Malinowski. "There are three parents and two teachers on the board now. The teachers want to be involved, too."
Though there are parents on the PTA’s executive board, some members also work at the school.
"I had a parent come up to me with ideas during sixth-grade orientation," said Ms. Malinowski. "If they are having a problem with approachability, I don’t understand the rational. It’s an open door policy for everything."
The PTA charters in Manville have no requirements about the composition of the boards. In order to run for an executive position on the board, one must be a member of the PTA, in good standing for 15 days before the election, and must write a notice stating interest in running.
Interested members are then nominated for the position, and a committee chooses candidates for each position from the nominees. Candidates can also run for the positions from the floor of the election meeting as well.
"Anybody has the right to run for the PTA," said Mary Ellen Zangara, president of the Weston School PTA. "There isn’t a requirement that says there needs to be two teachers and two parents in the executive seats."

