Question: PTO limitations

Our principal is saying that because we are a parent/teacher organization, that we can't have anyone other than those people volunteer in our organization otherwise we need to change our name. the problem is we have a lady that has been volunteering 30 yrs and has no kids/grandkids in our elementary school, but in district, so how can we or should we handle this.

Answers:

Community Advice

mum24kids writes:
That is like saying the American Federation for the Blind can only have blind people volunteer for it. There has to be some back story here--does she not want that lady to volunteer anymore for some reason? Is she also saying that high school students can't volunteer there because they are not parents/teachers?

Advice from PTO Today

Rose H writes:
Hi there,
There could be a back story, absolutely. But, you might also want to check the bylaws to see if there had been any guidelines set up about volunteers in the past. In any event, this is worth further discussion if the principal is open to it. We frequently see examples of groups that work with foster grandparents or other volunteers who no longer have children attending the school but provide valuable help to the school.

Rose C.