Hi Rose,
Yes, our principal has contacted them and they are also ignoring any contact from him. A few months ago at least 2 members of the executive board (there are only 3 positions) hired a lawyer that they "say" is to protect our 501c status. This is the 2nd or 3rd reason we've been given for why they hired a lawyer. At the last meeting here was a $5000 discrepancy in the records that they couldn't account for, but they swear up and down that it was not used to pay for the lawyer. After being confronted with this info they stopped coming to the meetings and stopped all communication with anyone.
Hi Mom2Punky,
I'm sure you feel really stressed right now, but hang in there. Have you talked to the school principal? Can he or she help you contact these parents?
We are in the exact same situation. Unfortunately the previous board members will not respond to any communication nor will they turn over the finances. Do we have any recourse to try and get the money back. I feel like our hands are tied without paying for a lawyer ourselves and that just isn't an option.
Not the best circumstances, but manageable. This kind of situation--almost no papers/history to transfer to the new board--is not all that unusual. It doesn't make it easy, but you can do it! One really important step, especially before school ends and you can get in touch with current board, is to make sure you have the financial information. You want to get an idea of where you stand.
Also, see if someone has access to the bylaws. This will help you get a sense of what the basic "rules" for your group.
From there, try to identity the key things you want to do next year. We can help! We have tons of free resources on the site to get parents involved, plan events and run fundraising programs.
I have recently been nominated as President for the coming school 2015-16. I've immediately rolled up my sleeves and got to work banding together our executive board and getting the ball rolling.
The previous board didn't do much of anything, no meeting minutes, no agendas....there is no paper trail of anything for this school year. They would schedule meetings and not show up or cancel and oftentimes would be non-responsive. What wound up happening was, was a few fed up members and a couple of the executive board members called a meeting and nominated a new board to start afresh.
Is this going to be an issue for us in the futuer or starting afresh is a not-so-bad thing?
