Thank you for your input. I did leave out that i had annouced that i would like to have a bingo night back in nov and set it up for the end of feb. i was told to bring up events that i wanted to have at a meeting , so i did. (I have only been to two meetings before taking over as president.) when i brought it up and asked for no money because i knew that i could get everything donated. Everyone liked the idea at the time and i even put it on the school office calander.
So months later this is where we are.The event that the old co-pres are involed with have only 30 members that come from our school.And most of those girls can't afford the event.I have been able to get parents who before felt unwanted back into volunteering and coming to meetings and not everything is going the way that the old chairs would want .thank you all for your support.
Your post reminds me of something that happened to me my first year. I (with another gal) schedualed a potluck dinner and games etc forour very small school. Little did my husband tell me that the hockey team here was in the play-offs and our pot luck was the same time as one of the deciding games! Friday night came and 5 families and two TVs showed up! The moms played the kids games we had and EVERYONEelse watched the hockey game! Okay I'm laughing about it now but that night I could have cryed!
I was once told even superman can't be everywhere and that could apply here. More importantly if I were you, raesmom, I would really like to see those "by-laws". Our Prez STILL likes to say things are in the by-laws that aren't, I call her on it all the time (I was the first secretary with a computer so I had to type and correct them a few times ) [img]smile.gif[/img] You will really need the Principals support on this one, it wouldn't hurt to talk to some other long time involved parents for their thoughts/advice/copies of by-laws. Hopfully these wonderful members haven't driven everyone that can help you away!
As a parent that has 3 children in two schools (and before this year it was 3 schools for 7 years!) I can feel for the chairs that quit. Was it an event that potentialy involved many other parents or students? Our boy scout troop, for instance, often schedules events that they want the high school kids to participate in even though the dates are on Marching Band dates - and that's part of their school grade. Everyone gets frustrated. I will not change a date of a PTA meeting even if the turn out will probably be low because we set the dates far in advance and they are published in a district calendar. However, I will change the date of an event if it doesn't suit the majority of the volunteers if it is not a school wide event. Also, something that we learned is that when we look for chairs for an event, we give the date of it on the sign up sheet so they know in advance.
Communication, not pulling rank, and flexibilty makes everyone happy. Or at least willing to work with you....
Raesmom
Id get a copy of those bylaws and see what "rules" you are going against . It seems like if you all got together with the principal then the date should stick...i mean what's in the bylaws ...working around their schedule? If that's what's there it's time to get rid of that and ammend it because it's a school group not two individuals!
"When you stop learning you stop growing."
In the last two weeks i have had to officeres quit becuese i would not change a date for a family bingo. Thay where the co-chairs last year and have been very involved in other groups, and have always had to schadule event around their calanders. I have only the PTO that i am commited to.So when we set a date for the same date as the old co-chairs schaduled an event for an other group activity they where upset that I would not change the date. They got very upset with me and quit. I am doing what I stated was my goal when i took this position.And got it approved at our meeting if i could get everything donated and set up the volunteers,which i did.
Our principal and i are new at this and we are tryng to work though this.We have set up a meeting for next week. I am now told that there has been bylaw all the time but i was never given them and accorrding to the old co-chairs i am going against the "rules". What do I say at the meeting and how do i get past this? this whole time i have felt that they (the old chairs) have been makeing the "rules" to fit them and their needs.
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