Parent Association/Parent Teacher Association

What is a PA/PTA?
Parent Associations (PAs) and Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs) are school-based organizations open to all parents of children currently attending a New York City public school. The PA/PTA is a primary vehicle for parents to get involved in their children’s schools.

What is the role of the PA/PTA?
The PA/PTA helps parents become involved in their children’s education, share ideas, and enrich their school communities. While the specific roles of PA/PTAs vary, among their responsibilities are electing parent members to serve on School Leadership Teams and Community Education Councils, conducting outreach to get other parents involved in school life, and supporting school activities like Parent-Teacher Conferences, open houses and curriculum nights. Each PA/PTA develops its own bylaws, elects officers, and holds regular meetings.

How do I join my school’s PA/PTA?
All parents, step-parents, legally appointed guardians, foster parents and persons in parental relation are automatically members of their school’s PA/PTA. For more specific information on how to get involved, ask your school principal or parent coordinator.

Parent Association/ Parent-Teacher Association Webinars

A series of webinar trainings for Parent Association/Parent-Teacher members is now available. Please direct questions to FACEwebinars@schools.nyc.gov.

Title of Webinar	Description
PA/PTA: A Foundation for Parental Leadership--Part 1	How can you support your school? What can you do to get involved? Part 1 of the PA/PTA Foundation presentation focuses on the role of the PA/PTA, as well as bylaws and meeting structure.
PA/PTA: A Foundation for Parental Leadership--Part 2	Part 2 of the PA/PTA Foundation presentation focuses on the roles and responsibilities of the PA/PTA Executive Board, myths and facts about PA/PTAs and a summary of PA/PTA best practices.
PA/PTA Financial Affairs--Part 1	Part 1 of the PA/PTA Financial Affairs presentation provides an overview of the financial responsibilities of PAs and PTAs. Specifically, this presentation will address how financial practices should be addressed in the PA/PTA bylaws and the role of the PA/PTA treasurer. Proper PA/PTA financial record keeping, including the maintenance of a PA/PTA checking account is also discussed.
PA/PTA Financial Affairs- -Part 2	Part 2 of the PA/PTA Financial Affairs presentation provides an overview of the fundraising guidelines for PAs and PTAs. Additional topics include: completing the Interim and Annual Financial Reports, preparing and approving the PA/PTA budget, and reviewing and auditing PA/PTA records.
Chancellor's Regulation A-660 Review	Chancellor's Regulation A-660 sets forth the governance structure of Parent Associations (PAs), Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs) and Presidents' Councils to ensure the rights of parents are clearly established. This webinar provides an overview and a summary of changes to the regulation as of June 26, 2012.