Thanks for the input. What do you think of my not voting on this issue. And what do you think we should do about the fact that the Principal has already said that he doesn't care if 200 parents are in agreement on this it's up to the board and not the general membership.
It sounds like some pretty major decisions were made by Executive Board "behind closed doors". Things like election dates and processes should be discussed and voted on by the membership after all it affects the general memberships' ability to participate in the process. Our bylaws require that any changes to them must be voted on by the general membership at a regular monthly meeting and must be passed by a majority of those present and voting at that meeting.
Maybe the next step should be an open and frank discussion of the situation with the general membership. The Executive Board needs to let them know the reasoning behind the changes they made and own up to any mistakes. Then let your membership decide whether they are comfortable moving forward with the officers that have been elected or if they want something else. Your group may have to redo your elections if that is what the membership wants.
I hope someone can help me with this. We recently had an election for President. It was the first contested election in anyones history at the school. I lost. Parents started a petition becase they felt we did not follow the bylaws of the school. Their concerns were that we did not allow absentee ballots and that we changed the election from May to April. Our bylaws do not say that absentee ballots are allowed nor does it say they aren't. The Executive Board met behind closed doors and the Vice President said there would be absolutely no absentee ballots. The Principal agreed and noone disagreed. At the next general meeting the Vice President said there would be no absentee ballots. Parents are upset because it wasn't discussed with them and no motion was ever filed to allow this decision to be made. The second issue is that the bylaws specifically state that the election will take place in May. Again, behind closed doors it was suggested by me that we hold the election in April in case we needed to transition to a new President. Frankly, I had no idea that the bylaws said May. Again noone disagreed. At the March meeting we made a motion and accepted it for the nominations. I then stood up and said the election would be held in April. Parents are upset because they feel we had no right to change when the election would take place because in order to change the election date we would have to change or in some way amend the bylaw. No motion was ever filed to do either. It does state in our bylaws that the President can amend the bylaws. The Principal is saying that by my saying the election would take place in April that's changing the bylaw. Again, I had no idea what the bylaw even said. So my dilema, what do I do now. Do I ignore the parents and just agree with the Principal even though we didn't follow proceedure just so I won't look like a sore loser or do I stand up for the parents rights and represent them because we didn't follow proceedure. And, should I recuse myself from the vote. I think I should but only if the Principal, who is a board member, recuses himself.
PLEASE HELP! :confused:
