I have emailed this to the orginal poster for those that would like to know what I sent, this is the preamble to my charter enjoy:

To promote the welfare of children and youth in home, school and community; To bring closer the relationship of home and school so that parents and teachers may cooperate intelligently in the education of the child; To enhance the educational facilities and opportunities for the students of Waller Elementary School that are not otherwise provided for in the school corporation budgets, The Parents, Teachers and Staff of Waller Elementary School, establish this Charter as the governing document for the Waller Elementary Parent Teachers Organization.

Thanks, everyone, for your insight! I have revised our by-laws and have included a mission statement that basically says "our PTO is here to better educate our students". I understand what you mean about some parents needing to vent and that is something that I've realized that I'll have to deal with. But I'm handling it so far.
So far our new principal has been great. The principal before didn't enforce any rules, but this one does. And they all benefit the students. :cool: :cool: These parents are so used to doing what they want and they don't want to change it even though she is looking out for the students' safety.
But anyway, thanks again. [img]smile.gif[/img]

Hi,
I know where you are comming from. I was the PTO president last year and it was our Principals 2nd year. Nothing was changed the first year, she was great. But, once she got the ok to do her own thing the second year she was changing everything.
She was even trying to change our pizza for the peaceful program the the PTO pays for the pizza. This is where I got involved because this was a PTO thing and we should of been talked to about the changes not just changed.
It was a long year and parents spoke out. Although if more of them would of called our board office I think her changes would of been stopped. But, parents were afraid of repercusions on their children.

Last year our principal started a zero tolerance for academics. This was really a HOT topic with parents. This means that if a child forgets their homework there is no it's ok or warning.
It's and instant detention and the detention is a 1/2 before school starts the next day.
No questions asked. It was a long year and I am glad not to be PTO president this year simply because she hasn't changed anything and I feel it could all happen all over agian.
Hang in there!
You're in my prayers,
copymom [img]smile.gif[/img]

Yes, look at your bylaws. And remind parents that, while their input is appreciated, it is not the PTO's job to second guess curricular or administrative decisions of the school. That doesn't mean the parents can't vent - and you'll just have to manage that. Our school has an "Accountability Committee" where we could direct parents who wanted to be more involved with classroom issues. That helped keep the PTO on track in its mission to support the kids and the school.

By the way, I was PTO President during our "new" principal's second year. It was really difficult. Some new principals are a disaster, but most are just NEW. And with that comes changes, some of which are good, some are bad, and some are just changes. Be really careful about getting swept up in the rumor mill. Be careful about who you side with. If the Principal is doing something dangerous or unethical, then you might have to get involved at a higher level. But if it's just changing the seating procedure in the cafeteria (our first big blow up), then you probably just have to let the parents vent for a few minutes at a PTO meeting, and find lessons to learn about how the Principal works and which parents are going to make things difficult. It is the Principal's perogative to change many things, and that can be extremely difficult and frustrating. Good luck!

Originally posted by Stacy T.:
:confused: I have been elected to fill the president's position this school year. We also have a new principal and so far all I've heard were parent complaints about the new rules. Some members of our PTO have sided with the parents and are in the process of destroying teacher's and personnel's good names. Some of these remarks have been discussed in our first general PTO meeting although our principal says that these statements are a personnel matter and not a PTO matter.
Is there anyone here who could direct me to a site that has the definition or explain to me exactly what the PTO is here to do? I need to get this message out as soon as possible so that our organization can cater to our students and not our adults. Thank you for any information that you may have.
Stacy [img]smile.gif[/img]

There is a post under day to day management of What PTO can and can't do. It's dated Aug 2002.
Hope this helps.

There is no "definition" of PTO, but I think you have answered your own question by saying WE CATER TO THE KIDS, NOT THE ADULTS. What a great way of puting it! Look to your bylaws or the mission statement of your own organization. The ByLaws that our group drafted included both objective and scope which would answer your question.

ARTICLE II

OBJECTIVE

Our objective is to provide the students of Liberty Elementary the opportunity to achieve their fullest potential in a stimulating environment through the cooperative interaction of parents, teachers, and community.


ARTICLE III

SCOPE

This organization shall provide service for school functions, engage in fundraising projects, encourage parent, teacher, and community involvement, and cooperate with school administration in providing educational opportunities.


This is not a slam on your group, unfortunately it is reality - it's ego's that get in the way, not necessarily adults.

I wish you every success and know that many much wiser than I can and will offer you words of wisdom if you continue to ask!

Always for the kids,

Cathie