We have a different grade level perform at each of our monthly meetings. The music teacher puts the performances together and of course all the parents come to see their children perform. We tend to have a rotating attendance this way as very few parents attend when it is not their child performing but it does at least give us a chance to communicate the importance of involvement. Since we are a title 1 school we also partner up with the title 1 team and they host events the same night as our meeting so that gets parents in as well.

That's what I hear many parents saying.

I've been on our PTO board for only a year, so I don't have much experience to fall back on. Our meetings are filled with an agenda that includes officer, committee chair and school reports. If I were to be a non-PTO board member sitting at the PTO meeting, I might even ask myself the same question. Certainly we want parents to feel involved and we often turn to them to be volunteers for our many activities, so their role outside the meetings is very important. However I can't define their role AT the meeting, and I feel terrible that I can't. I suspect I'll be moving into the President's seat next year, so I want to make sure I make some changes that rebuttals the comment, "Why should I attend a PTO meeting?" And although, "to learn... to stay involved..." might be valid points, I'm not sure that's compelling enough a reason. OH - and we raffle gift cards for the parents at each meeting - so theirs a carrot.

Do you structure your meetings in such a way to involve non-board member parents? How would you answer, "why should I attend a PTO meeting?"

Thanks much!