Negotiating With the PTA by Trevor Murphy
Summer is over, and the kids are back to school! Signs of the new school year are all around: Back-to-school sales at retail stores have ended, school buses are in traffic as people drive to work . . . and interactions in a new school community can provide opportunities for unanticipated negotiations. I went back to school, as well, since the new PTA members for my kids’ grade school met for the first time a few weeks ago. It’s a good group of people giving their time and energy to help the school. It’s my first year working with the organization, so I spoke when answers seemed obvious. “Should we raise money for field trips?” was easy to support. I was less sure, however, when the question was, “ How should we raise money for field trips?” The other parents quickly identified me as inexperienced in the ways of the PTA, and they stopped specifically
I decided to contribute by paying attention and learning how the organization works. The experienced team members moved deftly through a big agenda, but their progress suddenly slowed. “We can’t use our social media accounts. The person in charge of them from last year hasn’t given us the credentials,” a PTA officer said.
requesting my opinion. I’m still unsure about some of the questions we considered, like “Should we have a talent show?” Ours is a school for children aged between five and 11 without special training in the performing arts, so the answer doesn’t seem like an obvious “yes” to me, although it does to some parents.
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