DRAFT
Brookline Parents Organization
Purpose
The purpose of the Brookline Parents Organization is to advocate for all students in the Public Schools of Brookline. It will represent the interests and insights of all parents and guardians (hereafter “parents”) on matters of district-wide concern. It will promote open and transparent relationships among teachers, administrators, parents, and students.
The Brookline Parents Organization will provide a forum for sharing information and ideas among parents and school-specific parent organizations. It will offer a platform allowing parents to work together effectively toward common goals and secure an influential voice in the formation of policies that affect the education of their children.
The Brookline Parents Organization will actively communicate and engage with all bodies involved in the governance of Brookline Schools, including but not limited to the Administration of the Public Schools of Brookline, the School Committee, the Brookline Educators Union, the Town Meeting, the Board of Selectmen, and the individual School Councils, Administrations, and Parent-Teacher Organizations.
The Brookline Parents Organization will gather and communicate to parents the information they need to understand and act on the issues facing the Public Schools of Brookline. It will review the school system’s budget, expansion plans, enrollment policies, curriculum planning, testing and evaluation methodologies, administrative organization and staffing, and any other plans or activities that will affect the quality of public education in Brookline. It will review the performance and proposals of existing and candidate School Committee members and offer voting guides to parents.
Membership
The Brookline Parents Organization is open to all parents and legal guardians of students enrolled in the Public Schools of Brookline. All members have equal rights to participate in Brookline Parents Organization meetings, run for office, and vote in elections.
Governance
The Brookline Parents Organization will have a Board with a minimum of 9 Directors, elected by all members to serve staggered three year terms. The Brookline Parents Organization intends to include on the Board at least one parent from every school in the district. It also intends that the Directors should constitute a representative mix of student ages and family backgrounds. The Board will elect a Chair or Co-Chairs every year, to serve no more than two years consecutively. All Brookline Parents Organization meetings are intended to be open to all members, and all meetings are expected to satisfy the requirements of an open forum.
In its first year of operation, the Board of the Brookline Parents Organization will consist of the members of the Steering Committee involved in its creation.
Immediate Goals
As part of an effort to ensure that the School Committee is composed of individuals committed to representing the best interests of students and parents, the Brookline Parents Organization will seek to organize a Citizens Nominating Panel for School Committee. The Panel will include members of the Brookline Parents Organization as well as teachers, administrators, town leaders, and any other appropriate individuals, and it will recruit and put forward candidates for School Committee.
The Brookline Parents Organization will also seek to establish formal representation for parents on the School Committee. It will explore the possibility of establishing a District-wide Parent Council that will serve as an umbrella organization for school-specific Councils and have a seat on on the School Committee.