PTA team selected to help local groups

National PTA president: Leaders will help until county umbrella PTA gets its charter back

The county PTA had its charter revoked in June after ongoing complaints from the state PTA about financial irregularities and bylaw violations. The county charter cannot be reinstated until spring 2009 at the earliest, according to PTA bylaws.

The announcement was made by National PTA President Jan Harp Domene at a meeting at Charles Herbert Flowers High School in Springdale.

‘‘PTA is alive and well in Prince George’s County,” she said.

Domene, who was in the area for an annual national PTA gala, said she agreed with the charter revocation because delaying the disciplinary measures would have set a precedent for other struggling PTAs.

‘‘You cannot let something like this fester,” she said.

Maryland PTA President Mary Jo Neil, Flowers Principal Helena Nobles-Jones, Flowers PTA President Walter Searcy and a group of parents attended the meeting. Searcy is one of the field service members.

Bob Ross, who was elected president of the county PTA two weeks before it was dissolved, said he was not invited to the meeting.

‘‘There was no communication whatsoever,” said Ross, who has criticized the state PTA for failing to give the county additional time to make changes under new leadership and alleges the state PTA failed to follow procedures before revoking the charter.

Ross said the absence of a countywide PTA has made it difficult to organize events on the local level. Ross said a community forum held Tuesday at Dr. Henry Wise High School in Upper Marlboro would have been better attended if the county PTA still existed.

‘‘Even in a dysfunctional state, we could get the word out about events like that,” he said.

The service team members have undergone extensive training in recent months, according to state PTA officials, including workshops and conferences across the country.

Esther Parker, former Maryland PTA president and a current National PTA official, said the county PTA’s ineffective leadership was reflected in PTA membership numbers. During the 2004-05 school year, there were 11,400 PTA members in Prince George’s, according to Parker. By the 2006-07 school year, that number had dropped to 8,300, said Parker, who headed the state PTA when the county group was put on probation in 2004.

‘‘People were peeling away from the council because they weren’t getting what they needed,” Domene said. She added that less than 20 percent of local Prince George’s PTA members were active members of the county PTA when it was disbanded.

E-mail Dennis Carter at dcarter@gazette.net.