The first bell was an hour away from ringing, but the multipurpose room at Mountainview Elementary School was already packed with dads and kids.

Fathers and youngsters lined up to grab their favorite donuts, select a drink and have a seat to chat.

It was the annual Donuts for Dads at the Saugus school Friday, an event hosted by the school’s Dads Committee, an all-father group that’s part of the school’s Parent Teacher Association.

“It’s a give-back we do for the school in order to get the fathers up to the school so the kids can be seen with their dads and create more social interaction,” said Brian Shanaghan, committee president. “It creates a sense of connection.”

For a little while, dads, grandfathers and male role models of the 950 elementary-school students were invited to the free treat that has become a popular fixture at Mountainview.

Shanaghan, 47, and his group are part of a growing number of dads in the Santa Clarita Valley and nationwide who are joining PTAs and organizing father-driven benefits to help youngsters.

More involvement
Across the country, PTAs are pushing to involve dads in their kids’ educations and shedding the image of “PTA mom.”

The change could be seen two years ago, when Charles J. “Chuck” Saylors was named the first-ever male national PTA president. Fifteen percent of the PTA’s 130 board of managers members are now men.

Recently, the California State PTA introduced a new initiative to involve fathers, coinciding with the National PTA’s Men Organized to Raise Engagement, or MORE, alliance.

“My parents were involved in the PTA when I was in elementary, junior high and high school,” said Brian Bonner, State PTA vice president for parent involvement. “I had a model to follow.”

Bonner said he started attending PTA meetings when his daughter was in first grade.

“I feel like I’m actually making a contribution to help improve education and being an advocate for kids,” he said.

On a statewide level, Bonner has helped sponsor legislation that addresses bullying in schools.

“I think it’s really important for parents and fathers to be involved in the decision-making that goes on at their schools,” he said.

Under California law, companies with 25 or more employees are required to give their workers up to five days, or 40 hours, of unpaid time off each year so they can be involved in their children’s schools.

Golf, donuts and trips
Mountainview Elementary is the only local school to have a separate PTA Dads Committee; it counts about 20 dads who attend meetings.

The school’s PTA moms say the draw from dads benefits the school and sheds the image that only moms can be part of PTAs.

“I think it shows the kids that dads have a place and it’s not just moms that help in the classroom,” said Mountainview PTA President Cheryl Hovey.

At Pico Canyon Elementary School, dads four years ago started a chapter of All Pro Dads, a national movement started by a former NFL coach.

Pico Canyon’s All Pro Dads started when current chapter President Tim Pluma pulled onto the campus to drop off old computers as part of a school fundraiser.
“I drove up, and everyone there was a (parent teacher association) lady,” he said. “They were walking around with TVs in their hands.”
The experience left Pluma puzzled.

“Where are all the dads?” he recalled asking himself.

Now, Pico Canyon’s All Pro Dads group has the mission of involving fellow dads in their kids’ educations. Nearly 100 dads have signed up for the group that organizes family events and fundraisers at the Stevenson Ranch school.

“The kids really love having their dads at school with them,” the 50-year-old Stevenson Ranch resident said.

Pico Canyon dads have bought and installed basketball nets on campus, led recycling drives and organized field trips to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for dads and kids.

“Who knows what it will spark between the relationship of the dad and the kids?” Pluma said. “It gets them talking at dinner.”

No dad at home
The involvement of dads in their children’s education can have a positive effect on youngsters without fathers at home, said Bonner, the State PTA vice president.

“There’s an experience that only males go through,” Bonner said. “It helps bring a fuller picture, more-rounded perspective to the people at the school.”

And it shows kids that dads can be just as involved in school as anyone else.

“They are giving back to the school their kids attend,” said J.M. Kenny, 45, Dads Committee past president. “At the same time, their kids see them doing something for the school.”

But the positive social experience isn’t just dad-to-kid, some participants said.

“I think that dads have honestly enjoyed it because they got to meet other dads,” Pluma said. “I would hope that other schools would pick up the program.”