Today was the last day of school. Boy do I need a break. Thanks to everyone for their input, but I doubt that things will get better. We were told that our principal ran her last school poorly, and the school she came from was actually closed.
She is cutting our music program to part-time for the upcoming school year, which means our music teacher will only teach music 2 days per week. He informed us that he will not be able to service all of our children in only 2 days and there will be no more music shows. We have 2 performances a year in our auditorium where the children sing and our chorus also performs. He has been at our school for about 20 years, and he will probably not be returning. That will be a huge loss to our school. She cut music to make room for several other positions in the school. None of her plans make sense to anyone, and the teachers and staff are completely disgusted with her plans. It took our last principal 4 years to get our school running like a well oiled machine, and it took our new principal several months to tear everything apart. We are losing many great families for the new school year, and that is simply not right. She was not the right fit for our school from the very start, and our school board is to blame. They have heard many complaints from parents this year and have received many letters, but in the end we have all been told that she is a great principal. This just seems like a no win situation.
Have a great summer everyone. I'm going to try to get the PTO out of my brain for a while.
I know that this is a bit off topic, but you mention that you are going to be losing what I am guessing is your PTO room where you store everything PTO. This would be devastating if it was happening to me and I would be more worried about that than the lunch (though I have much to say about that as well!).
I think you as President must do something right away to stop your new Principal from taking that room away from you guys. Believe me I understand. We used to have a simple closet near the cafeteria and the boxes were stored all the way up to the ceiling, it was imposible to find something and it was actually a hazard.
But this year with our new Principal I asked him about a specific space within the school which he was more than willing to give us. He put it this way... "I'm going to take care of those that I need". This made us feel appreciated by him from the start and luckily this relationship has continued.
If it was happening to me I would make an appointment with the Principal and point blank her about this space and her intentions. Maybe she is going to give you a different equal or larger area, but from what you've explained I would guess not. If she informs you that she is taking that away from you I think you need to democratically explain that that area is used to store the supplies required for the PTO to provide all of the services to the school that you do and that without the space it is very likely that many of the existing services would no longer be able to be provided. It is also very possible that the school's improvement plan includes PTO related activities. Informing her that these items would no longer be able to be provided should raise a concern for her.
As others have suggested this is her first year and hopefully she will come to support your group better and truly appreciate what you guys do and show it. At the same time this may not happen and the only ones that will suffer is the children. If things don't seem to get better you may want to go to her boss and discuss things openly there. I recommend this as a last resprt, but from what you've explained this may be needed. Truth is that you and your group may not be important to her, but you guys should be important to the Superintendant of Schools and she is the one that writes up the Principal's reviews. I know that if I was Principal and the Superintendant informed me that I wasn't doing a good job appreciating the parents and volunteers in my school I would have to take it to heart.
If you feel that this is a bit extreme you might want to go a different way that would serve the same purpose. Imagine if you had an event that the Superintendant of Schools was at yet the Principal was not. Would that look bad for the Principal? Try a Back to School event and invite the Superintendant and see what happens.
Meetings are always good but be careful to not put her on the defensive. Perhaps you could say that many of the parents would love to have an informal setting where they could chat with the principal and get a comfortable dialogue going. Our prinicpal had a year of "Coffee and Conversation" so people would come to know who she is and what her philosophies are. I would tell her that there are some aspects of your shared communication that you are not comfortable with and would like to smooth out for the coming year. d
Maybe taking over and getting acclimated to the school has been overwhelming. She could have something going on, personally, that she is going through as well. Schedule a meeting with her and talk to her about the perception the overall parents and PTO has and you wish to help change that by offering her to be a part of some of your events throughout the year. She can be visible to parents and they will feel that she has a true interest in the activities and parents of the PTO.
It may help her to know that she has an ally with the PTO and you are trying to meet her half way.
Making a positive difference one project at a time <img src=images/smilies/smile.gif>
MT--this really could be a chance for you and your organization to shine. If there is a lack of spirit, fill that gap with your attitudes and energy. It gives you a chance to step into a void that is created....not in a catty way at all - but in a way that will draw everyone towards you. The trick is to not turn into an extension of the tension and to instead bring something new to the table.
