Parent Teacher Association – PTA

With dwindling budgets from the DOE, parent participation can be what makes a good school into a great school. At PS3, we have an active PTA which works to support and enrich the academic and social life of all the students.

Every public school is obliged by the DOE to have a Parent Association (PA) consisting at the very least of 3 members, a president, treasurer and secretary. It is the organization through which parents are able to organized, voice their concerns, get and exchange information and work to support and enrich the academic and social life of all the students.

Membership

Every parent or legal guardian of a student at PS3 is automatically a member of the PTA and each parent is allowed one vote at meetings. Because we value the input of the entire PS3 community, parents at PS3 have chosen to extend membership to include teachers and staff as well, which is what makes our parent association (PA) into a parent teacher association (PTA).

PTA Officers/Executive Board

At the last general membership meeting of the PTA, officers are elected to serve on the Executive Board. At our school, this group consists of the mandatory members of President, Treasurer and Secretary (which can be shared two people making them Co-Presidents, Co-Treasurers or Co-Secretaries) as well as (2) Vice-Presidents and (2-6) Members-At-Large elected from the general membership. One Member-At-Large position is reserved for a parent new to PS3 to be elected at the October General Membership meeting the following year. The Executive Board has several functions.

• the administration of the PTA
• acts as a conduit for information between the PTA and our Principal (and through her, the DOE);
• helps facilitate communication and functioning of various PTA committees;
• creates the agenda for, and runs the PTA meetings
• schedules special membership meetings when needed
• facilitates the creative of committees

You can contact any member of the Executive board if you have an idea you want to propose, or an issue you want to bring up at a general membership PTA meeting. They will put your item on the agenda or direct you to the appropriate committee or help you set up a new committee to explore you idea or issue. The Executive Board does not have any authority to create policy or take actions beyond the basic organizational functioning of the PTA without the approval of the general membership.

2022-23 Executive Board Meetings

Elections

In March, the PTA forms a Nominations Committee and begins the process of finding members to fill the officer positions of the PTA. Any interested parent can throw their hat into the ring by emailing the PS3 secretaries at ptasecretary@ps3nyc.org. All nominees must submit their names by the May meeting and voting occurs at the June meeting. The term of the officers is from July 1 through June 30th. Parent members of the SLT (School Leadership Team) are also elected at the June meeting.

General Membership Meetings

General membership meetings are held once a month usually on the third Tuesday unless there is some greater scheduling conflict. Childcare is provided for evening meetings.

These meetings are meant primarily to provide a summary of PTA and Committee activities, to propose and vote on new business, and to give our principal, Hillary, an opportunity to update parents on recent developments around school and at the DOE. These meetings also provide a forum for parents to voice their ideas, concerns or questions about what’s happening at PS3. Keep in mind, however, that there is always a lot of business to take care of at these meetings and issues necessitating extensive debate are discussed by the appropriate committee or by creating a new committee where interested parents can site and work out issues which can be summarized and presented at the next PTA meeting.

Proposals to the PTA

Students, parents/guardians, and teachers, are all encouraged to exercise your right, under the bylaws, to submit proposals. Student proposals must have an adult sponsor.

Proposals can be submitted to our PTA co-presidents or any member of the Executive Board or write to ptapresident@ps3nyc.org . It’s always good to consider working through existing committees if possible and the Executive Board may help you get in touch with an appropriate one.

Here’s an outline of the information needed to get your proposal going. It’s always helpful to submit something in writing to be presented at the PTA meeting. If you don’t have a written document, be prepare to outline the following information to your fellow PTA members.

1. Purpose: A clear description of the project including its proposed benefits to P.S. 3:
2. Cost Breakdown: A detailed breakdown of the estimated costs: Project submissions will not be considered without this. If this is not easy for you, ask the Executive Board to see if help can be provided.
3. Proposals must cover, at most, only one school year. All proposals are assumed to be for the current or next school year only, if multiple years are desired or necessary, this must be stated in the proposal to the PTA.
4. Project Coordination: Please explain who will coordinate the project to completion. If any special expertise is involved, please provide qualifications.
5. Ideas vs. Complete Proposals: If you have an idea, but do not know how to do all of the above steps, at the meeting you’ll be able to ask other parents or teachers for help.

Committees

Committees are where the nuts and bolts of PTA business takes place and summaries of their activities are often made at the monthly PTA meetings.

Bylaws

For PS3 PTA bylaws, click here: PS3-PTA-Bylaws