Question: Election nominee problem

I am the secretary for our school. We recently sent out an email letting everyone know we will hold officer elections next month. One parent emailed us back, expressing interest in being on the board. This particular parent has not attended a single PTO meeting or event. She also has serious personal issues with our vice president, who, according to our bylaws, will move into the position of president next year. Based not only on this, but also on things I've personally witnessed, I have serious reservations about her being an officer. I checked our bylaws and don't necessarily see anything in there preventing her from running. According to the bylaws, "Any PTO member in good standing may become an officer of the PTO" and "Membership shall be automatically granted to all parents and guardians of ____ school students, plus all staff at our school. There are no membership dues. All members have voting privileges, one per person." It could possibly be argued that she's not in good standing, but that's the only possible thing I see. My question is, is there anything we can do to object her nomination? We are a brand new school this year and for most of us on the board, this is our first year ever being officers. Not sure what to do about this!

Asked by Anonymous

Answers:

Advice from PTO Today

Rose H writes:
Hi there,
Totally understand your thinking.. You are concerned this person is going to cause problems and seems like you are justified in your thinking. It appear, however, that you can't really prevent her from running without causing a big problem. One way to look at this is to let the cards fall where they may.. She runs, but she may not be elected. If she is elected, she and the new PTO president will have to address their personal problems in some way so the whole board can function, work together, and get the job done. Hang in there. Sometimes, we can be really nervous that someone is going to be a jerk and ruin the board and then it works out.

Rose

Community Advice

Mueller writes:
I was in a similar situation last year. Does the other parent know that you will be president? In my situation, when the other parent found out I would be president she dropped out. Until then, though, I focused on the positive: Despite our conflicts, she would have brought value to the board.