Question: Issues with outgoing members.....

Okay, this is my first year doing anything with PTO. They didn't have Treasurer nomination last minute and I wanted to be more involved at my children's school so I volunteered. I know nothing about being a PTO officer and with some of the issues we've had here just at the beginning I've wanted to drop it quite a few time; thankfully our other officers are amazing/supportive and are doing a wonderful job with keeping things going!! We are unfortunately having some issues with the outgoing members. Our bylaws state that they are to stay on an additional 6 months as mentors. We make the decisions, our names are on everything, but they are there in case we need assistance I guess. They are a bit difficult to work with and it's to the point we don't want to have to rely on them if we do need help. There are other issues involved and each time we are in contact with them and they are not satisfied with our communication, we are threated that if we don't give them what they want that we are going against our bylaws!!! I'm afraid that the issues we are having are only going to get worse and we are going to need someone to intervene. Is there someone, a county/state representative, that we can contact with our issues? We are all new and we are trying to do things right. Last year was such a mess and the students didn't have the year they should have had and we're off to a good start and don't want this to turn into something that it shouldn't and have our school have another bad year due to the PTO. Any tips or advice is truly welcomed!!

Asked by Anonymous

Answers:

Advice from PTO Today

Rose H writes:
Hi there,
This sounds stressful, so we feel for you! First thought is if the outgoing folks are in the role of mentors, they are not in the role of decision makers and they need to keep that in mind. They may not like the way you do some things, but their jobs now are to guide you, not tell you what to do. In the PTO world, their isn't a state or governing body to go to for assistance. If you continue to have problems with this group, you can seek out your school principal for some guidance. In the meantime, have confidence in yourself and fellow board members! You can do great things. You may have to stand up to these folks and tell them that as mentors they are not the decision makers. Rose