McKinney Council of PTAs President Cindy Francis said there are a little more than 1,600 PTA members across the 10 MISD elementary schools with PTAs. She said the goal is to get that number to 2,600 members by the end of the school year.
“With this goal in mind, we created a Council of Community Membership program to encourage community members, business leaders and others who don’t have a child at a PTA school to join PTA and support our vision of making every child's potential a reality,” Francis said at an Oct. 22 MISD board of trustees meeting.
To be an official PTA member, national and state dues must be paid, which allow campuses and members access to state-level support on legislative issues affecting schools, access to grant funding, additional programs, specialized trainings and more.
The National PTA is the largest child advocacy program for all children in the U.S., according to Francis, and is a nonprofit made up of a network of school advocacy groups who work to improve education, health and safety of all children locally and nationally.
New membership forms are available on the McKinney Council of PTA's facebook page or through a PTA board member, Francis said.
"Volunteering is not required for PTA membership," she said.
In addition, the MISD board of trustees recognized Glen Oaks Elementary School and its PTA for receiving the National PTA School of Excellence Award for 2019-2021.
"This award is a recognition program that supports and celebrates partnering between PTAs and their schools to enrich the school experience and overall well-being for all students," Glen Oaks PTA President Jennifer Gilliam said in an email. "Our school and PTA have worked whole-heartedly on growing our campus community, and it is wonderful to be recognized by the National PTA for all the dedication and effort."
Glen Oaks PTA was among 326 schools nationally recognized as a School of Excellence, according to Gilliam.
Francis said she hopes successes such as this and others will encourage more members to join McKinney ISD PTAs.
Find more information on PTAs and how they differ from Parent Teacher Organizations here.
