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It’s Resolutions Time!

By Lucille Vitale, Resolutions Coordinator and Legislation Coordinator

Spring is upon us and that means resolutions season has ‘sprung’ for the NYS PTA Resolutions Committee, which will soon be meeting to tackle this year’s work.

Each year, the Resolutions Committee meets in June for an entire weekend. We review resolutions from seven years prior to see whether or not we will put forth a recommendation to retain, update or rescind that particular resolution. The final recommendation then comes from the Executive Committee.

The Resolutions Committee will also review any new resolutions by researching every detail. We then decide whether to recommend moving it forward to be voted on at Convention.

Position Papers follow the same cycle and are also reviewed and updated, at this time, to reflect current research by the committee.

This year we have 22 resolutions that were previously adopted at the 2012 Convention and one new resolution to review. The committee works diligently, researching their assigned resolutions from May through June, at which point we meet together in Albany to review our findings. This process ensures that we are always up to date with our advocacy! If there is still a need for advocacy on a current issue, we will retain that resolution. If changes are needed due to many factors, such as language or legislation changes for example, we may choose to update it to reflect those factors. If the resolution has become irrelevant or legislation has been put in place that no longer requires us to advocate on a certain topic, we may choose to recommend to rescind.

All of the recommendations from the Resolutions Committee and Executive Committee will then be posted to the NYS PTA website for units to discuss and vote on in advance of Convention 2019. Delegates from your unit will ultimately carry your vote of confidence to Convention, so they may vote on your behalf.

This year, the NYS PTA Convention is in Tarrytown, on November 8-10. At Convention, all retentions, updates, rescissions and any new resolutions, will be thoroughly discussed and then put up for a vote by the Convention body.

Once adopted, they will be added to Where We Stand, which is the official position document of the New York State PTA. It is comprised of resolution statements and position papers adopted by the Convention delegates over the years.

I encourage you to plan to attend Convention in November to be a part of this process. Your unit’s budget should reflect a Convention line that should enable at least one or more members to attend. It is truly an important and worthwhile event and I hope to see you there!

Resolutions Preview:

Here are some of NYS PTA’s Resolutions that will be reviewed and then voted on at Convention.

Many of these Resolutions were first introduced in 1984. Thirty-five years later. these issues are still making headlines.