labgirl, even as a guest you can start a new thread. I agree that you might get a better response to your questions.
I think you're right to believe that president is behaving inappropriately. As an individual she has the right to her opinion and, to an extent, the right to voice those opinions. However, as the leader of your parent group, she needs to be so careful to make sure people know she is speaking on her own behalf and not on behalf of the entire PTO.
There are rules, laws, etc on endorsing candidates that are all dependent on what type of group you are. Overall, though, it's just poor form to use PTO access to the parents to spread her own opinions. Any use of PTO email access should be to discuss PTO business only. If she uses this source to inform parents that there is an election coming up, it should be informational only (date, time, candidate names, etc) and be completely unbiased.
I'd have a chat with the principal, who should then talk with the president about appropriate use of resources.
Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for awhile and leave footprints on our hearts. And we are never, ever the same."
"The ultimate aim of karate lies not in victory or defeat but in the true perfection of one's character."
You might want to start a new thread. But I beleive that if the PTO is tax exempt with the IRS they are not allowed endorse a candidate. But if the PTO president is doing this as an individual, there is nothing you can do. But I would suggest starting a new thread because more people might look at it.
Hi, not sure that this is the spot to ask this but a local PTO president is all but endorsing 2 returning school board candidates. She has not listed the names of the other 5 candidates that are running for the board in an email and talks about disruption of the current board and its policies if any of these new members are elected. Yet, the new candidates have say nothing about disrupting the board. This president did not attend a recent teacher's union candidates night and is rarely seen at any board meetings but seems to have quite a bit to say about this issue. Is this allowed?
Can a PTO be so brazen? Should a PTO endorse anyone or should equal time and consideration be given to all that are running?
When I read that section of your bylaws, I understand it to mean that the nominating committee has a time frame to finish its work before the April Executive board meeting. The nominating committee presents its nominees at the regular meeting (of the membership) in May at which time nominations from the floor may also be taken. This is pretty standard procedure.
I think someone misinterpreted your bylaws a while back and your PTO has been blindly following ever since.
My concern is that even if someone learned they could show up at the meeting and vote on the new officers, that the board would not count their vote. Is voting rights something that is in the bylaws?