Question: HELP!! by laws violated and no one wants to help

I was nominated for president of the pto for a 2nd term and accepted but the teachers and admin. wanted me out so they had nominated someone else at our last meeting. I said it can't be done due to violation of our by laws but they went ahead anyway. I sent a very detailed letter to the Board of ed, superintendent and all the staff at the school, with no reponse. What is the next person to contact? With this being ignored they are treating out by laws as just a blank piece of paper. I need help!!

Answers:

Community Advice

firefighter464 writes:
If your PTO is a separate charitable entity, PTO polices itself and enforces its own bylaws. You will more than likely encounter a stance that the school has no authority over PTO (which, of course, will not be the stance they take when there is something they want to overrule or allow/disallow in PTO...it's politics. A school protects its liability and won't get involved if there is a sticky wicket.) There essentially is NO policing entity to stop wrongdoing in PTO. We have to rely upon honesty and goodwill. (Here's hoping you will find it at your PTO.) No state or federal entity will get involved unless it involves taxes. So here's the deal: the PTO solves it own problems through the application of its bylaws and generally Roberts Rules of order. Make a motion at the next PTO meeting that you be allowed to present your case and have someone already set up to second your motion or it'll die for lack of a second. Then, use the bylaws to explain your case to all present. If you are truly in-line with bylaws and they are violating them, the decision by membership should be (in theory) to enforce the bylaws. But there is no accounting for those on the other side ganging up to overrule by padding the numbers in their vote. Sad to say. Any action that violates bylaws is null and void. Proving it violates bylaws voids their actions. So really, you don't need a vote to nullify their actions, but you may need a vote to decide if it truly violates bylaws. Make a motion to do so to put it on record that membership decided this, not just you. Good luck, and watch your back. Those who choose to abuse power often get real ugly real fast.