Will Ice Cream and Prizes Draw Parents to PTA Meeting?
Manchester PTA tries a new approach to lure parents to budget/election meeting.
The Manchester Township Parent Teacher Association (PTA) is offering ice cream and prizes to entice parents and community members to attend its 7 p.m. April 11 general meeting at the middle school media center.
"We don't always have an ice cream social," said Sheryl Claus, the outgoing Manchester PTA president.
"We had heard other towns do something to try to get people interested in coming and have it be a more social occasion. Budget meetings sometimes can be very somber," she said.
The Municipal Alliance's Project Graduation raffle winners are always pulled at the April meeting and tickets can be purchased at the meeting, said Claus.
Proceeds fund an alcohol free evening of fun for seniors. First prize is a $1,000 Visa gift card, second prize is a weekend at Angels of the Sea Bed & Breakfast in Cape May, and third prize is a $250 Stop & Shop gift card, she said.
"We would like as many people there as possible when we pull that," Claus said.
"The April meeting is always three-fold: It's the budget presentation, it's Municipal Alliance's raffle drawing, and it's the opportunity for interested PTA members to put forth their name for consideration for board positions," she said.
Manchester Schools Superintendent David Trethaway said this meeting is especially important because the school board vote is critical this year.
"Last year we lost 22 positions. This year we have a 2 percent cap and increases in benefits and fuel, among other things. Really the result was a $1 million shortfall, but we were able to make changes in our benefits package that allowed us to get that $1 million back," Trethaway said.
"Right now, all our programs are intact and all our staff is intact, but if there any more cuts now, it will automatically be programs and staff. It will either be sports teams or physical teaching staff," he explained.
"We've had a number of budget presentations, but the attendance wasn't as great as we'd hoped for. That's one of the reasons why we're trying to get people out," he said.
Claus said the PTA has vice presidents in every school building in the district, sends out a newsletter, and has a website that is updated daily and linked to the district website.
"People will only be as informed as they make up their minds to be. If they don't know there's a meeting, they live in a cave," she said.
walt tupycia
2:55 pm on Saturday, April 9, 2011
this is such bs
walt tupycia
2:58 pm on Saturday, April 9, 2011
state is trying to stop mcdonalds from offering toys at there food purchases. because of obsicity with the kids.yet manchester wants to give the ice cream give me a break
walt tupycia
3:00 pm on Saturday, April 9, 2011
ice cream is very unhealthy for you. why would the school board with the pta try to give kids bad food
walt tupycia
3:02 pm on Saturday, April 9, 2011
obsicity where are your priorities
walt tupycia
3:03 pm on Saturday, April 9, 2011
get rid of your ice cream truck will save about 100k
walt tupycia
3:06 pm on Saturday, April 9, 2011
vote the budget down
walt tupycia
3:08 pm on Saturday, April 9, 2011
pta help to reduce taxes instead of giving kids bad food
walt tupycia
3:10 pm on Saturday, April 9, 2011
hey pta try offering 500 dollars to every home owner to reduce there there taxes if the attend you meeting instead of ice cream
EyeOpener
9:05 am on Sunday, April 10, 2011
It looks like Manchester citizens are more interested in reducing their taxes than attending PTA parties. So the PTA party is more in the vein of self congratulation and aimed at getting parents to vote for the budget. Same old, same old. Why not spend the party money on student education?
Amy
11:46 am on Sunday, April 10, 2011
The meeting is for parents, therefore the ice cream is actually for adults, not kids. Furthermore if you don't want your child's class size to increase or important programs to be cut, you will vote to pass the budget. If you don't have children or grandchildren attending school...well, one day you might and then they will get what they need too. The prizes and most of the costs for the meetings are donated, therefore not much money is being spent. What's important is to get the information out to the public about the budget, and a reminder why it's important to demonstrate your right and duty as an American citizen to VOTE! Don't let ignorance be your downfall. Get informed!
amomwhocares
9:30 pm on Sunday, April 10, 2011
Well said Amy, one day, no matter what district, you just might have a child or grandchild who is in school. It shouldn't matter if it IS the district you live in either. Because I am sure, you would want others to give them the best they deserve from THEIR district. And if you are already beyond that part of your life, well then think back at how your child benefited. It's not a child's fault the economy is where it is today. We are trying to raise our children the way we were raised and benefit the same way,if not better. We all live in the same world.
Trish
10:35 am on Monday, April 11, 2011
It's important to be informed before making a decision, no matter which way you vote in the end. I would like to see the budget pass and the district get the funding they need. Amy hit the nail on the head, don't be ignorant, voting without becoming well informed is ignorant.
I truly cannot believe people are bashing the PTA for offering adults ice cream, no one is offering children ice cream. I attended the school districts presentation of the budget and I was one of a handful of people there. The PTA is helping to give residents another opportunity to become informed. The PTA supports the students of Manchester Township and to suggest otherwise is (once again) ignorant.
bonnie
7:31 pm on Monday, April 11, 2011
Well here we are spring time! It must be time for the school board elections and the budget. As usual here comes the fight vote for or against the budget. Well do the people who vote the budget down do so because its the only budget you can vote on so therefore lets take it out on the kids? lets vote it down so class sizes go up, extra-curricular activities get cut and anything importatnt for the kids get cut. why is it when people no longer have children in school they feel they dont have to vote or they have to vote it down. well my two children are graduates of this town and we have lived here for 28 years. My parents taught me never to vote a school budget down somebody's kids will need as good an education as yours got. My parents still vote in every school election and never vote one down and my sister and I have been out of school for over 30years. So come on everyone get out and vote all of you please!!!!!
Billabong
7:12 am on Tuesday, April 12, 2011
I'm with Bonnie on the get out and vote message. However, I would never advocate for "never voting down" any particular budget. I've voted for school budgets and referendums and voted against them. A "yes to all" budget voter is just as uninformed as a "no to all" budget voter. When the economy is in the tank, I expect a budget to be fiscally responsible and address the academic needs of children. If that means that athletics, music, art, and extracurricular activities/clubs must be trimmed, that's fine. As a parent of a child in the Manchester school system, I'll do my best to make up those sacrifices on a personal basis (whether it's art and crafts at home or getting my kids involved in sports on a leisure or rec level, for example). There's not a person in the world that can convince me that the cuts made to elementary instrumental music and elementary world language were not worth it. Now, if it's a matter of keeping teachers on the job like the excellent staff at Ridgeway Elementary, I'd be all for it.
bonnie
10:47 pm on Tuesday, April 12, 2011
do you realize the correlation between math and music? look into the research. also do you realize world language is part of the core standards and still need to be taught , but now not by world language teachers.
Billabong
6:45 am on Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Please. There's still a music program, just not instrumental music. So what exactly is the correlation between instrumental music and math? Because let me tell you the correlation I've seen: my daughter's math grades (as well as her grades pretty much across the board) have improved this year - even without an instrumental music program. The reasons are simple. 1. She has an excellent teacher. 2. My wife and I spend the time with her to work on her homework. Cutting world language and instrumental music is not why kids struggle in math. The biggest failure is parents, teachers, and/or mentors not taking enough time to teach kids in STEM subjects.
bonnie
10:24 pm on Wednesday, April 13, 2011
no i never said that music and math correlation was the only thing that was important to children and how they do well. parents are always one of the key factors to how their children do in school, even if it it is only to encourage and to model how important their education is to them.