Boy does all of this sound oh so to familiar. I had been pres. for many years and finally stepped down after being booted by the principal picking her own board exec's and telling us there would be no election that year. As far as charter how do you go about finding out who carries it. I was new to it and no one to turn to for help heck our new board is changing by-laws so they fit the principals list of how things should work. I understand the fustration also so far 4 things we tried to implement and were told no on are now being done by her new board..but her budget is reaping some of the benefits. They budget for the field trips and a few extras but then they help the principal purchase things like new cafe. tables that the principal is supposed to budget for. It is so funstrating. I have stopped doing everything even the fundraising I politely told them I would pay for my kids to go on field trips at this point rather then pay for things the board of ed should be paying for. Well, if someone could tell me were to start digging for charter info or original by-laws(or how they are formed I would appreciate it.
IT IS A TOTALLY SEPERATE POOL OF MONEY. A LOOK AT YUR CHARTER SHOULD SHOW THAT. OUR PRINCIPAL CANNOT DICTATE WHAT IS DONE WITH THE MONEY, SHE CANNOT SIT ON THE BOARD EITHER. THE PRINCIPAL NEEDS TO BE SHOWN THIS. WE ALSO HAD A FUNDRAISER WHERE THINGS DISAPPEARED FROM THE STORAGE ROOM (NOT BY THE PRINCIPAL). YOU ARE NOT BEHOLDEN TO STORE YOUR STUFF AT THE SCHOOL. THE CHECK BOOK SHOULD NEVER BE AT THE SCHOOLS DISPOSAL, WHY THE PRODUCTS BOUGHT. THIS SHOULD BE BROUGHT UP AT A PTO MEETING, IN FRONT AF THE PRINCIPAL AND MEMBERS. THEN HE CAN EXPLAIN TO MEMBERS WHY HE HAS MISAPPROPRIATED THESE SUPPLIES.
We have a great relationship with our school staff and share resources quite freely. However, our PTO is a separate entity - legally and financially. The school has no automatic "right" to any PTO's assets. If we truly needed an item to be used solely by the PTO, that would be our decision.
For us, it rarely comes up. We do isolate small things like the special paper for our newsletter. Our principal would never dream of just taking it. On the other hand, if he was in a pinch and really needed it, he knows he could have it and replace it later. But in his mind and ours, he would be "borrowing" from the PTO.
The Principal has no control over how we use our funds, what equipment we buy, where it is stored, etc. As a body, we meet and vote on expenditures and what we want to buy for the school. As I said, we have an excellent relationship and I can't imagine NOT sharing with them or not agreeing to a request if it's in our power to do so. There is respect and accountability on both sides.
I guess one question I would have for your Principal is: if he thinks the PTO's assets are under his control, then does he also share the OBLIGATIONS? If the PTO goes in the red for any reason, is the school budget going to pitch in? Somehow I don't think so. I would imagine that school administrators would have no probablem explaining exactly how the two are separate entities financially and legally.
Concerning the question about the scanner that was purchased for PTO use....We have be told OVER AND OVER again that nothing that we purchase is PTO property. Example...on the night of our pot-luck dinner as we were setting up we went to our storage closet to get coffee cups and forks (we had a ton of them when we did our inventory) but to our surprise they were all gone!! We had to send people out to the store to rush and get these items because someone took ours. And two guesses who did it we have a key and the principal has a key?? He has now started using the paper that we have budgeted for and purchased for our newsletter for school notes. He just always reminds us that all items belong to the school. I would love to see this discussion added to it's own topic site just to see how widespread this problem is.
We bought a scanner last year, exclusively for the PTO's use, especially for a yearbook for the 5th graders that we make every year. The principal says it must be stored at the school so the teachers and students can use it also. We buy a lot of equipment for the school that I feel the district should buy, and this was not meant to be a gift to the school. If he wants one we will buy him one, but I feel this is something the district could buy. What is the principal's power over the PTO and can the PTO own equipment?
I am a PTO President who also happens to be best friends with two of the teachers at our school. To get more teacher support it is wise to start out slow and don't take it personal when they can't come to meetings. This is hard to accept at times I know, but remember these people work with our kids all day and do have lives after school...appointments, families etc. They do not get paid extra for being involved with the PTO. As, for the comment that when they need money for field trips and such they are nice as can be...well the trip is for our kids and that is what we are all here for. Does anyone think that teachers jump up and down with excitement about taking a bus load of kids on a field trip when most parents have to be begged to chaperone. Our PTO has scheduled a right after school meeting to accomodate the teachers so that don't have to hang out until 7pm (many live pretty far) and guess what the superintendant announced Friday (our meeting is Tuesday) that she is calling a meeting for Tuesday at 3:30 and expects all elementary teachers to attend. So you can imagine that there will be comments because no teachers are at this meeting but do they really have a choice here?? If you can get just one teacher...preferable your school's teacher rep to attend the meetings and let everyone know what is going on you might spark more of an interest. Also, I send out a Teacher's Edition Newsletter when the regular newsletter goes out to keep them informed with the info they need. We do have every teacher in the school including the seceratary, gym,host, and resource teachers, that are paid memebers of our PTO. As for the principal issues ours is a real corker too...but with persistance and parental praise for the PTO sponsered activities he is also coming around.
