I believe that for the good of your organization, you and the President should work this out prior to your meeting. You need that person to take a stand and interpret the by-laws correctly.
The whole home schooled thing is a bane of contention for a lot of folks. Basically, they are not members of your school and really have no reason for participating in any activities that the PTO would host. While I think that your VP may be misinterpreting the by-laws, s/he does have a valid point.
Come to the Talent Show, sure no problem, it's a public school and events should be open to the public . . . but, participate - probably not.
I am a PTO VP and I am also a teacher. I have one home schooled child that comes to my classroom for 2 days of the week for music class. (She also comes in for Art.) This is an option allowed by laws in our state (Wisconsin) but I do not believe that she's allowed to just come and participate in extra curricular events.
I like the idea of building community, but there is the whole question of knowing the child, supervision, and responsibility. They've sort of already opted out of being a part of your school - they've enrolled in home school. Think of it as if a child from a private school wanted to participate in a public school event (or vice versa) - it wouldn't really fly.
Sorry that wasn't more help to you. Either way, talk it out and work it out prior to your meeting. It will just make everyone happier and not give everyone at the PTO meeting a bad taste in their mouth.
This question was posted in the comment section on one of our
articles
. I'm reposting here on behalf of the author (I'll let her know how to find this thread) as she's looking for some fairly specific help. Lots of knowledgeable and experienced folks on the boards so this seemed like a better place for the discussion.
<snip>
I am dealing with an issue and really could use some advice. Two other moms and I are chairperson's for our Talent show and would like to invite our homeschooled kids to participate. I was told that iit is stated in our bylaws that no one who is not a member of the PTO is allowed to participate. The only thing that it currently states is that non-members can not attend PTO meetings. Last year we combined school districts and since then all the children have been getting along well and I thought by allowing the homeschooled children to attend it would say to are community that we don't want to segregate anyone. Both principles were okay with the homeschool kids participating until the vice president told them that it states in the bylaws that non-members are unable to attend any PTO sponsored function. Which is completely untrue. I really need some advice on how to carry this out at the next PTO meeting. HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!
<end snip>
