Question: Is it PTO's role to take on complaints?

At our last PTO meeting several parents complained about the amount and quality of the food that students were getting. The principal wasn't there so the vice president and I (president) went to her the next morning to pass along the complaint. She suggested we talk to the food service directed. We did and she explained to us the new food guidelines that she had to follow. We invited her to come and speak to the parents at our next PTO meeting. She (the food service director) agreed. Then I get a call from the principal telling me that "this isn't really the mission of the PTO and next time to refer complaints directly to her". The problem is that the parents say that issues don't get resolved when they talk to the principal. We're we wrong in taking on this issue?

Asked by Anonymous

Answers:

Advice from PTO Today

Rose H writes:
Hi there!
It sounds like you did your best in responding to this issue and you were not wrong. The principal gave you a mixed message. She shouldn't have directed you to the food service director if she didn't want you involved. Sometimes parents are frustrated about school-related issues and it is natural that a discussion will develop at a PTO meeting. Let them know your role is to pass along concerns to the principal. In this particular case, perhaps the principal can attend the next meeting and address parents' concerns, or make plans to meet with parents separately to answer their questions.

Rose C

Community Advice

Marines writes:
Thank you, that's exactly what I was thinking.

Community Advice

fliphone writes:
Our PTO has several members that want the PTO to take on the role of carrying carrying the parents complaints to the school administration AS WELL AS be responsible for ensuring a satisfactory (to those parents) resolution occurs.

I have tried to explain to them that the PTO does not have this purpose in its bylaws. More important to me, the PTO officers do not have a mandate to represent the parents in this way since the PTO officers are not voted on by parents. They are voted on only by PTO members which contain a minor portion of the parents of the school. If we represented the parent body in this way without a mandate, it seems like it would be more oligachical rather than democratic.

However, certain select members have an agenda to use the PTO and perhaps the PTO funds as leverage to having their complaints receive the grand attention they want. The PTO has come to grinding halt as they want to ammend the bylaws.

Any suggestion on how to approach this.