Advice from PTO Today

Rose H writes:
Wow. That's a very significant thing. Can you elaborate some on why an entire board would step down? Without knowing the circumstances, we'd say it's a serious and very disruptive move that, if possible, should be avoided. You would need to check your group's bylaws to see if there's any language on resignations. If possible, try to see if at least one person can hang in there until the end of the school year or to the next election. This person could perhaps get help from volunteers to address the major things that need to get done before year's end.

Rose C.

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FreedomFalcon writes:
I did post about a month ago asking for help bc the entire board was accused of misappropriating funds and being in breach of our fiduciary duties. One of the former board members from last year drew up a letter and got a number of signatures on it. It was given to the principal in November but did not reach our Presidents hands until December. The letter not only made this false accusation with no proof or even examples but it was also demanding a meeting for those who signed the letter to go through all of the pto records. They sited state statues and all. None of this was done in good faith like the state statute says it is a deliberate attempt to ruin the names of 4 women and get the entire board out. The person who started all of this is a vp from last year who does not like this years president who was also last years president. She even tried to get people to impeach this years president and this was right after voting her into office again! Some of the board members approached those who had signed this letter and asked why they would be accusing us of such a thing. Their response was that they had not read what they were signing and that they were told by this former vp and one of her friends that it was simply a letter requesting a meeting. They signed. After finding out what the letter was truly about a number of them emailed the principal to have their names removed bc they do not believe we are doing anything wrong and that they were misled. The principal has yet to share those with the pto board. We wrote a response requesting a retraction and an apology and also stated that if anyone felt they were misled that we were giving them the opportunity to remove their names from the letter. We also asked that for those who did not want to retract anything be barred from contact with the board for the remainder of the year. The principal did not like that and would not deliver our response to those who had signed the letter. We have been fortunate enough to find a parent who is a cpa who will audit our books from this year (well for what we have accomplished so far). The response we wanted sent out was also guided by a private attorney. The school is not giving us any support in this matter. They want it to quietly go away. They do not want it getting out to the rest of the PTO membership. As far as it stands we have a case for court if we wish to persue. All we have requested is an written apology and a retraction of the accusations and we can not get that. Oh and the woman who started all of this is not only a former vp but the sac president at our school as well! We are all fed up, and feel like all the time and energy we put into pto before this means nothing. We have been completely transparent in everything that we do. We post our meeting minutes, have monthly meetings where starting and ending balances are read, budgets are either gone over or approved...What ever new project we have started we have announced.
Bottom line this is all bc two people do not like the president so they have gone to this extreme to ruin the names of the entire board! What else are we supposed to do when the school is not even backing us up. We admit it was harsh to call for a banning of contact but I think given the accusations made against us..we are completely justified in how we feel. Oh and side note the two women who have started this were also chair and co chair of an event that they stepped down from bc they did not feel that they should have accountability to the board on how they ran the event or how they spent the budgeted money for their event. At one point the co chair said to the president "I wish the board would drop the event from the calendar so we could do what we want with it" That should have been our red flag for future problems with these two and sure enough here it is. So I ask again what are we supposed to do when no one will support us those that said they did via email to the principal, which is not being shared with us.

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Advice from PTO Today

Rose H writes:
Sorry you and the other board members have had such troubles. If you are set with your plan to resign, then, do check the bylaws to see if there is anything written about that and follow that procedure.

But, one thing to consider is to put the accusations and all the ugly back and forth aside for a few moments and think about what you want to do as a group on behalf of the school and the kids. Is it possible to accomplish some of those things? Do you want to? Do you feel you can go forward?

While you are certainly justified to want an apology if you feel you have been wronged, be careful not to get so worried about the accusations that your group gets sidetracked from what it really wants to do -- help the school and the kids.

In the meantime, if you are having the books audited the facts will show your team did nothing wrong as you have implied and this person who is going around making things up about your team will be revealed to be who she really is.

Keep trying to reach out with the principal about moving forward. Try to have a sit down to talk about an event that your group can do that will help build the school community.

All the best,
Rose

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jlpsencik writes:
I see you are not the only one. A few years ago names got slandered in one of our elementary campuses over misuse of the funds but the difference is they in fact stole the entire amount of what PTO had raised (around $4000). While the main persons name got thrown around the ones under her and the upcoming years boards names also would get tossed around mainly because of one person and the problems they had caused. THe ones who didn't do anything we had to walk on egg shells and make sure everyone knew it wasn't us and we didn't want our good names being mixed up with bad. It takes time to get things straight once "drama" arises but keep in a tight bond with all the board that has your back as well as any staff members of the school. In the end it will all work out! Good luck to you :)

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FreedomFalcon writes:
All of this has broken my heart. Not only because it is my name but the names of 3 other great women. I truly believe we could have done great great things this year if this nonsense had not occurred. We have decided though to finish out they year but now we are going to have some fun and start working on projects around the school...We also put it up to vote for our next meeting if we should spend the $2000 we were quoted on an audit to prove our innocence and we put it out to the general members. They know why we are requesting an audit but don't know who accused us. We were advised by an attorney to handle things this way... The school claims they were told by district not to get involved in any of this so they can not be an intermediary of any type. They also suggest we ask the district finance department if they will do the audit for us, but im not so sure if this is a good idea....any advice on that?????

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mum24kids writes:
The advantage of the district finance people doing the audit is that it will save you the $2000. In my school district, the typical audit processes are very, very tight, so if yours is like that, there's a pretty good chance you'll be written up for something that isn't necessarily practical for you to have followed, and you could come out looking bad even if nothing is really wrong.

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FreedomFalcon writes:
Thank you mum24kids....we actually had a HUGE issue in our district involving $$$ about two years ago. It created a huge deficit and then a shortfall after that. There is a new regime in now and I'm willing to guarantee they will find something wrong with our books. That is good food for thought to bring back to the board. I appreciate all the feedback, this has been a very emotional and trying time for us.

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