Question: PTO Bd Member bad-mouthing Teachers & School

I have been involved in PTO for 3 years now. I have come to know and love our teachers and school. So, the phone call I got today was a little disturbing. A teacher called to tell me to check a PTO board member's Facebook page. This PTO board member was complaining about how much homework her child has. She was then bashing teachers and public school in general. Which led to a lot more entries bashing public school and the teachers. It was unbelievable that someone who represents our school in a leadership position would do this. How do you think we should address this? Has anyone had a similar problem? Most members of the PTO board are a little afraid to say too much because they don't want to become the victim of her next FB bashing! Help!

Asked by Anonymous

Answers:

Advice from PTO Today

Craig writes:
Wow! There's probably no way to handle this that doesn't involve confrontation. The usual way to start is to assume she doesn't understand the effect her actions are having (even if you know she does understand). The president would talk to her privately about the negative effect her posts are having. The president would say she understands her need to vent -- everybody does sometimes -- but doing it in such a public space is creating problems she probably didn't anticipate. Another possibility (or the next step) would be to have the principal speak to her. In that case he would state that she should bring her concerns directly to him rather than posting them on facebook. Either way, I'd say you either need to get her to change her behavior or you need to remove her from the board. Also, you might find some helpful information in the article How To Deal With Difficult People. Good luck!