If it turns out that the vote was for $250.00 and not the full $400.00 why not ask the person to make another motion asking for the remaining monies and then explain to the membership the need for both of the votes. Most of the time, the members are not out to "get us". If a mistake was made, address it immediately and they will more than likely feel MORE comfortable that you are not trying to hide anything.
The "revote" issue is tricky. If you have a good repoire with your principal and staff you may explain the situation to them also. They may forgo the monies under these circumstances.
The next move I would make is to form a committee to write By-Laws and Policy and Procedures. I really like ours and we use them well. If you have a PTOC it is easy to ask other schools in your district for copies of their By-Laws.
After working with two lawyers (parents) we decided to keep our By-Laws very minimal. We had to send ours with our application for non-profit status. The details are stated in our Policies and Procedures which can be changed in a two meeting procedure. The By-Laws on the other hand, if changed, cost us because of our non-profit status filing.
When your membership took the vote was it stated that all classrooms would receive $25.00 or was it voted that the total amount spent on classroom accounts would not exceed $250.00? If the vote was to provide the money to each classroom I can't see how it would be possible to bring it to a vote again. Maybe at the next meeting it could be placed on the agenda as a "clarification" vote. Because as of now your board of officers are unclear what was voted on. Do you have tape recorded minutes of the meeting that you can listen to? That way you can hear what the exact wording of the motion was. Good Luck:)
I am a new PTO Pres. I had no idea what I was getting into! We are a small school with very little involvement by the parents as well as the the teachers. At our monthly meeting (our 3rd this year) the meeting got totally out of control. I have learned alot in the last week. I had never herd of Robert's Rules. I have found out that we have no By-laws. My Question is there was a motion and a vote made on a matter that really needs readdressing. This matter was voted on under the assumsion that PTO would donate $25.00 to a fund for our teachers, the person who made that motion had not made it clear as to how many teacher that would recieve this money, It was at one time stated in the discussion 10 classes ($250.00) but in all there are 16 classes ($400.00). How can I fix the mistake that the voters were under the impression of donating $250. not $400. ?? I have learned alot and would like to handle this issue the proper way.
