Don't know if there are OFFICIAL rules. Our new school is scheduled to open fall, 2002. Our principal has been sending a newsletter our monthly from the district that started last fall, and I think we got a late start, but we had our first meeting in early April where anyone was invited. That meeting was announced through the newsletter to all who are being re-boundaried to attend this school. (Is that a real word?) We went over by-laws of other surrounding schools PTO's and designed our own from that. At the second meeting those in attendance discussed and adopted the by-laws with one change. All present signed the by-laws. That meeting, too, was announced through a newsletter that went out to all parents of kids that the district KNOWS will attend the school. Nominations were also held that night and elections are scheduled for mid-May. I have contacted each of the feeder school to ensure that they all know about elections, and have also contacted our cable local access channel and the newspaper - both of which will run brief notices about the elections. As I have been nominated as president, because the school is receiving students from 4 existing elementary schools, and because parents from only one school have yet to step up, I am bending over backwards to get everyone involved. If that means there are more nominations on election night and I am not the president - that will be o.k. with me - but I don't want to start off the new school with bad feelings or with anyone saying that they didn't know what was going on.
We are a new school operating as a PTO however in the process of creating by-laws. Do the by-laws need to be presented at a general meeting for voting or can the executive board vote on them?