New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
‘We’re stronger together’
Hamden parents work to change PTA system they call inequitable
HAMDEN — A Parent Teacher Association’s budget can mean the difference between a field trip to the Bronx Zoo and one to Brooksvale Park.
It can decide whether a school offers after-school foreign language classes.
The money even helps teachers get supplies for classrooms.
With separate PTAs for each of Hamden’s eight elementary schools, it is a model that exacerbates inequities within a district that serves communities of different means, according to officials. It’s an issue that has launched the townwide PTA council into the early stages of formulating a centralized and more equitable fundraising system, one that would work to give some students access to more programs, officials said.
The issue, many residents say, is cyclical: School PTAs in wealthier neigh
borhoods bring in heftier donations and therefore can fund higher-quality enrichment programs.
Some Hamden elementary school PTAs struggle to raise $3,000 annually, while others have budgets closer to $25,000, and a couple spend more than $50,000, according to officials and Internal Revenue Service filings.
Further, a tight district budget means PTAs are crucial in funding field trips and enrichment programs, according to Diana Theriault, president of Hamden’s PTA council, which includes representation from all of the district’s PTAs.
The problem is that the PTA system is “inherently inequitable,” Theriault said.
Revenues
Five of Hamden’s elementary schools qualify for Title 1 funding, which means they have a high proportion of low-income students. They include Dunbar Hill, Ridge Hill, Shepherd Glen, Helen Street and Church Street schools.
Some of those have strong and active PTAs, according to Theriault.
But they typically don’t have access to the same financial resources as Bear Path, West Woods and Spring Glen, she said.
Those three schools have
“more wealth and more time and more energy to give to a PTA” and in turn are more likely to be able to fund school plays and after-school programs such as chess classes, tennis lessons and foreign language courses, she said.
Between the summers of 2018 and 2019, the Bear Path PTA brought in more than $50,000 and spent more than $80,000, according to its IRS 990 filing.
It raised nearly $100,000 the year before that, the form shows.
The West Woods PTA handled similarly high amounts between 2018 and 2019, with more than $110,000 in revenue spent. It spent roughly $16,000 on field trips, $12,000 on after-school programs and $77,000 on “school experience programs,” according to its 990 form.
Stefanie Summerer was the West Woods PTA treasurer that year. She ended up joining the
PTA council to help bring the opportunities available at West Woods to other students in the district, she said.
Summerer provided a breakdown of how the West Woods PTA acquired the 2018/19 funds. Roughly half came from income associated with the theater program, yearbook and picture day sales, a book fair, a plant sale, a school store and community events, she said.
Around $26,000 came from parents paying for their kids’ participation in after-school programs and field trips, according to Summerer, who noted West Woods’ PTA is one of the only to collect field trip money directly. And approximately $28,000 came from a road race facilitated by an outside organizer, which took nearly a third of that money as its own cut, she said.
Voices
When nonprofits handle less than $50,000 annually, detailed 990 forms are unavailable. But according to Melissa Kaplan, a Board of Education member and advocate for reorganizing the PTA model, some town PTAs struggle to raise as much as $3,000.
“It’s not just the funding … it’s also human capital,” Kaplan said of the disparities between PTAs, noting that in some neighborhoods, parents might work long hours or hold multiple jobs and be unable to commit to a PTA.
Until recently, Church Street School did not have a PTA. That changed when Andrea GloriaSoria started the Church Street Alliance for Family Engagement, or CAFE.
She sought to give families a stronger voice and convince the district to rethink its decision to close the school.
In a community that serves a number of Spanish-speaking families, Gloria-Soria said language barriers can prevent parents from getting involved.
That’s why CAFE sends emails in Spanish and English, GloriaSoria said.
Because PTA membership fees represent another obstacle, she is trying to find an alternative way to pay them.
“We don’t wanna … squeeze money from our community,” which already is low-income, Gloria-Soria said. “We have to get money from other sources to cover that fee.”
It’s challenging, but she recognizes
that CAFE could empower the community. It could bring families together, give them a stronger voice and lead to more enrichment opportunities, she said.
Over at Dunbar Hill Elementary School, the PTA is better established.
Sarah Morrill, its president, said that before COVID hit, the organization’s annual budget ranged from $20,000 to $25,000.
But “at least half of our population qualifies for free and reduced meals,” she said. “We struggle with … being able to raise funds, you know, to support all of our students just because of the socioeconomic makeup that is our school.”
Dunbar tries to offer as many free events as possible, Morrill said. And while Dunbar has been able to offer enrichment opportunities, from scavenger hunts to dances to workshops with special guests, there are programs they cannot afford.
The field trips are not quite as “lavish” as at some of the other schools, according to Morrill. Other schools have been able to send kids to the Bronx Zoo or Nature’s Classroom, she said, excursions that are not within Dunbar Hill’s means.
And then there’s the theater
program — or lack thereof.
“I’ve been asked, how come our school can’t do a musical? How come we can’t do a play? And it’s hard to tell people we can’t afford it,” Morrill said.
As Jacqueline Beirne tells it, there’s another group of students that gets left out, though they do not belong to a single elementary school.
Beirne is the co-founder of the Special Education PTA, or SEPTA. She said SEPTA struggles to raise funds, and special education students are excluded from other PTA-sponsored enrichment programs, often because they are physically unable to participate. What could help?
A fundraising effort centralized across multiple PTAs, Beirne said.
Finding solutions
Under Theriault’s leadership, the PTA council, which includes representatives from each school PTA, has been “resurrected,” according to Morrill.
Whereas previously the PTAs were “fractured,” they now are operating under the idea that “we’re stronger together,” Theriault said. They also recognize that the PTA fundraising system is inequitable, she said.
With that in mind, the council is trying to come up with a more equitable fundraising method, perhaps via a centralized fundraising mechanism — though that goal likely is far off, Theriault said, noting that all the PTAs would have to agree to the plan.
The council has started with smaller projects that promote equity, organizing several districtwide events, she said.
“We’re starting with small steps like that, until we can build a stronger council, and a stronger network within the PTAs,” Theriault said. “Hopefully, within the next five years, we’ll be able to transfer over to an equitable way to raise and distribute money.”
But she also said significant progress would depend on the entire school system.
“If you really want to make the PTAs more equitable, make the schools more equitable,” she said. “We can’t solve that problem, so we’re just trying to make steps toward change that will benefit all students in Hamden.”
Kaplan agreed about the need for changes districtwide but also warned PTA structures can exacerbate existing inequities.
The Board of Education has recognized the need to address discrepancies in enrichment programming, Kaplan said.
For example, recent budget proposals have included line items aimed at boosting schools with less PTA money.
“Unfortunately, when the
Board of Ed is flat-funded … what breaks my heart year after year is that it’s usually those equity initiatives that are the first ones to be cut,” Kaplan said.
The line item stayed put in this year’s budget, however. It includes $125,000 for enrichment programs, to be distributed among the schools based on need, according to Superintendent of Schools Jody Goeler.
But as Kaplan sees it, that’s a short-term fix.
“The only real sustainable solution would be to just have one PTA for all of the elementary schools … so that every student has those same opportunities.”
Such a reorganization would require approval from the state PTA, Kaplan said. And it will mean a “hard conversation.”
Such a restructure seems far off, but for the first time, Kaplan said, the PTA council leadership is committed to equity.