This is getting complicated, huh? It seems to me that if you now have parents coming forward you should be able to run an election and have the members of your group vote. Certainly, the principal can express his or her opinion, but, frankly, it is not up to the principal to decide who is on your board if you are an independent group. If the principal has serious concerns about individuals -- the kind that would genuinely impact the way the person could do the job -- then he or she should let you know. Otherwise, it may be more in the realm of the principals comfort level with certain people and that alone certainly shouldn't shape your board.
Of course, having said that, best to be diplomatic and try to work through this with the principal so you don't end up at odds with him or her. Point out that an independent group with elected officers is typically much more successful because parents are invested, feel ownership and work hard to make it a success.
I should mention also that we already have a staff member on the board that is a faculty representative. We have also found parents that are willing to take some of the board positions, but he has told me has has a problem with some of them. However, he won't tell me which parents he has a problem with or why.
I am the president of a PTO board, but since my child is "graduating out" of the school I cannot continue next year. Due to various circumstances, the rest of the board is not returning either. The principal is getting extremely nervous about the prospect of working with an entirely new board, and is starting to go around recruiting people he wants for board members despite the fact that we have a nominating committee tasked with that job. He has now approached me with the idea of putting staff members that have children at the school on the board. He has gotten the head of the guidance dept. to agree to be president. I told him that most parents would consider this a conflict of interest (especially because guidance frequently asks us for money). He does not agree with me and feels it would be better to put a staff member on the board that someone "unknown". I can't find anything specifically in our bylaws against it, but I have talked with other PTO parents and all feel it is a bad idea. Has this been done at other schools before? Are we right to feel that this principal is overstepping his bounds?
