Thank you for your responses! I too feel that the principal's input is very important! Alot of decisions were made, to her dismay, but they just didn't feel she was important enough. I plan to change that...along with other things.
I totally agree with all of the reponses given here. You are crazy if you don't think the Principal should not be included in PTO decisions. Give the respect and then you will get the respect. Members who think that the Principal has no right asking to be included is dead wrong. :eek:
Kathy, you couldn't be more right. I met some resistance when I suggested that our custodial staff deserved to be on the PTO's holiday gift list - but I insisted. And it paid off in so many ways. You can't imagine how $5.00 gift cards can get you hundreds of dollars worth of help!
Echo echo echo . . . . I've long said that there are two people you need on your side to have a successful parent group - the principal and the school secretary. If you get along well with them, your collective lives as an organization will be so much easier. Anyone who thinks that it is not important to have a good relationship with the principal is working under the misguided impression that they are in charge, and that the PTO could exist without the school. While the principal is not always a board member, a voting member or whatever, never think that they aren't important.
Someone said that the principal is in charge of the WHOLE SCHOOL. That includes the parent organization and whether or not one exists.
YES! the Principal is your ally and staff liaison. Very important to have a good relationship with the Principal.
They have inside information (like about budget cuts) and you can rally the parents ahead of time to go fight for your school at school board meetings, if needed.
