Local school groups hurting for volunteers

Published 11:22 am Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Every spring, Lynndale Elementary’s PTA puts on a carnival for families. This year, there’s talk of cancelling it because of lack of parent help — and that’s not the only thing that could disappear.

The PTA will take a “bare bones” approach this year, said Tiphanie Anderson, Lynndale PTA member.

“We only have the minimum amount of officers and are cutting many programs due to shortage of volunteers and funds,” said Anderson, who was PTA president and vice president in the past.

It’s been getting worse over time at other schools, too, she said.

“More families need two incomes now and don’t have time to volunteer,” Anderson said. “Or they just can’t afford to shell out $7 for wrapping paper or $12 for cookie dough for school fundraisers.”

Lynndale isn’t the only local school group dangerously low on volunteers.

“Six or eight of us do all the work out of 1,400 sets of parents here,” said Steve Gordon, secretary of the Lynnwood High School Booster club. “It’s tough. We need bodies.”

The Boosters help students who can’t afford to pay for ASB cards, the graduation night party and sports physicals. The Boosters also buy cameras for the camera club, choir uniforms, snacks at assemblies and other things the school can’t pay for.

When parent help is so low, fundraisers to help the schools’s many low-income students are in trouble, Gordon said.

“How can people be any busier than we are?” he said.

Madeline Herzog has been in PTAs for 12 years and was president of the Edmonds PTSA Council, which works with several district PTAs. She’s now the Lynnwood High School PTSA president.

“The economy and rents these days — to afford even an entry-level house in our area, most families work and they want to be spending time with their kids,” said Herzog. “If they have to get up from the dinner table and go back out for an activity it better be worth their while.”

However, parent participation varies from school to school, Herzog said. When she volunteered for the Oak Heights Elementary PTSA, there was a lot of it.

The Lynnwood High School PTA has open board positions, but enough people step up for specific tasks that take less time, Herzog said.

It’s always been hard to find people for PTA boards — even so, Herzog’s seen a decline in volunteers over the years, she said.

“I’ve seen a decrease in the number of parents that are able to help — not a drastic decrease but just more intense competition for people’s time,” Herzog said.

Sometimes cultural differences can get in the way.

In Cedar Valley Community School’s Parent Student Organization, or PSO, a small group of people do most of the work.

“We’d like to have more parents involved,” said principal said Charlotte Beyer, Cedar Valley principal. The school has many students who are learning English.

“We know that for many cultures, the traditional model of how PTAs work is foreign to them,” she said.

Low participation can lead to burnout in those who do volunteer.

At Cedar Way Elementary, four or five people do all the work for the school’s Parent Teacher Organization, or PTO, along a few others who help with events, said Michele Lampers, PTO vice president.

Many parents at the school work.

“A lot of parents, the days when they don’t work, they don’t want anything to do with helping out at the school,” Lampers said.

That’s led to burnout among the core volunteers, she said.

When Lampers was on the PTA at Terrace Park K-8 last year, they had to cancel functions for lack of parent help. But she also knows of PTAs where turnout is high.

At Westgate Elementary in Edmonds, there are open spots on the Parent Student Organization board, but there are always enough volunteers to help with specific events or tasks, said Karen Orstad, PSO committee coordinator.

“You’re always wanting more people involved, but things seem to work out OK,” she said.

Lisa Conley is the president of Meadowdale Middle School’s Parent Club, similar to a PTA. In the past, she was with the Meadowdale Elementary PTA.

She’s seen participation ebb and flow, and sometimes it varies from class to class. She took the president job a week ago and things seem to be looking good this year, she said.

“I’m encouraged there’s a lot of people that want to be involved,” Conley said.