The principal is the problem. He tells us one thing and them another. We have talked to the super. and she said the principal must work it out. We are a school pto. We dont know what to do anymore. My child is already felling the fall out from this. I do not want this to happen. Do we back off and let the teachers win or do we fight? Does a pto have any rights?

cape dad is right on.
and even IF you are independent committee, the prinicipal STILL has final say and must be the ultimate manager/leader and find a resolution to pto matters such as these you describe.

getting rid of the baby with the bathwater is not the anser, good, effective MEDIATION, is. its your principal's call to resolve this and if she cant, she can always ask for help/advice from her boss, the superintendent of schools, thats what line management is for. good luck!!

bowen2370;129519 wrote: The principal today said if the teachers and parents can not resolve this he will get rid of the pto.

No way. It is up to the principal to manage his employees. This is his responsibility.

Are you an independent PTO or a school committee? If you're a committee, it sounds like it's time to separate.

Ok, help me figure this out. The students raised the funds for fieldtrips, the majority of the teachers wanted them too and the principal and the PTO approved the allocation. How did it go from that to the catastrophe you find yourself in right now? I suspect the principal's frustration is warranted.

Now, with this new info about the students earning the funds, I'm doing a 180 from my previous post. The kids earned these fieldtrips and deserve to go on them.

Whatever is going on between the PTO and "these 3 teachers" needs to be fixed. No matter the issue, everyone will suffer if the PTO is dissolved. Your team is charged with representing the entire community. While you'll probably never have a 100% consensus the majority should rule, not the outspoken minority. It's tough to see through the noise and commotion of the more gregarious segment to the more quiet majority but you can do it.

Our students raised the funds to go on the field trips. 80 percent of the teachers wanted them also. The few that would not go ruined it for 500 children. The teachers thought if they got the money back they would put it in their general fund. The pto has done alot for the school over the years. If they needed anything, they just had to ask. The principal today said if the teachers and parents can not resolve this he will get rid of the pto. This does not seem legal to me. Especailly when it is 3 out of 22 teachers that have problems with everything we do.

Welcome to the boards bowen. It sounds like you have a difficult and somewhat embarrassing situation. I applaud the middle school for returning the funds until you can get your own house in order. It must have been tempting for him to hold on to it.

When you say the teachers wanted the money back for themselves, do you mean they want to have it just to spend on whatever or that they changed their minds and want fieldtrips afterall? Your vote was to fund fieldtrips but the teachers said, "No, thank you. We aren't doing fieldtrips." So, the money goes back to the general funds. Maybe they thought that if they didn't go on trips then they could use the money for something else?

It does sound like your group, along with the principal, had good intentions when voting to allocate for trips. Was this in response to requests by teachers, students and/or parents?

It seems clear to me that the group voted to allocate funds to the rec center so that's that. The funds go to the rec center. The principal needs to reign in these very vocal teachers and explain to them that they were given first crack at those funds and declined them so now they need to step back and let the PTO follow through with their approved business.