It sounds like you have a group of control-hungry parents in charge of your PTO. Is the principal in on it? If so, the only way to change things may be to literally barge in on a meeting. I know it sounds confrontational, but if you try being nice and get nowhere, you either have to accept the status quo, or force the issue. What's more important, not making waves, or finding out what sorts of decisions they are making behind those closed doors? A stong insistence on secrecy sounds like somebody with something to hide.
We are running into a similar situation with a member who owns a spirit wear company - while we would like to give her the business as a parent, etc. - we need to ensure that we are doing what is best for the school, the kids and the organization. Solution - we are accepting sealed bids - desinged a bid sheet that is being answered uniformly from all potential vendors. Her response? Whatever the decision she has agreed to be on the spirit wear committee and as president I welcome that because if she is NOT chosen then at least we've got someone experienced in that area to be sure we get the best product and exactly what we bargained for. Good luck!
Thank you so much for your replies. It is so truly appreciated....you will never know how much.
As parents, we will have to band together and see if some changes can be made with our PTO. They do not have any meetings open to parents unless it is Bingo night or something of the sort. And then...there is no "business" discussed. We really do not know what is going on behind closed doors.
Also, can the President of a PTO sell her products to the school or is that a conflict of interest? (Not sure if she does it at cost or for profit.)
I agree with the advice you already received, with a few additions.
You need to keep in mind that the PTO/PTO is indeed a separate legal entity. HOWEVER, it obviously intertwined with the school it supports. So while the Executive Board runs the organization (as per the bylaws), you are also going to have district and school policies and rules to follow. Some of these you can negotiate or change, others you just have to learn to live with. So just be prepared for that.
Also, some items vary from organization to organization. In our case, Board meetings are public meetings. However, for someone other than a Board member to present information, they need to request to be on the agenda. We would NEVER have a Board meeting that wasn't open to our parents unless there was some serious confidentiality issue being discussed.
Many processes/procedures depend upon common sense and good faith. Even though there may be some commonly accepted best practices - there's no "PTO police". If parents are not happy with they way the organization is handling things, they need to join the PTO and work to change it - or they need to join together and address the problem.
I'll attempt to answer these questions, but they are based on my PTO's bylaws and my personal beliefs. Here goes:
1. The executive board is "in charge", but has the responsibity to represent only the official opinions or policies of the general membership.
2. Every member of the PTO responsible for making sure policies are followed.
3, 4, 5. Nominations and elections should be set forth by your bylaws. Ours states that there will be a nominating committee formed by three people not currently exec board members. They contact the general membership to get nominees. A slate of nominees has to be posted a week before elections that take place at a regularly scheduled meeting. You use "secret ballot" but should be counted by two people impartial people. If questions arise these ballots should be available for review.
6. Executive board meetings are private. General membership meetings are not.
7. Bylaws stand from the time they are enacted until they are changed according to the rules set out within said bylaws. Ours have stood since 1997 and will ammended next year, just to make a financial designation clearer. Bylaws should not be secret documents and they have to be sent to each member a week prior to any changes to be voted on. I would recommend that at the very first meeting that the bylaws be read and either approved as read or ammended at that time.
