i hear you i'm anew pfo pres and i only have 1 person on the board with me an di have had 2 meetings and had only4 people show upto both nice huh? but i love my school and my pricab;e is fantastis i just love her so i keep on truckin hopping it will get better so hang in there [img]smile.gif[/img]

We held our first meeting Tuesday, Boy was that a blow, 11 people in the room. 3 were boardmembers, 5 were chairpeople,4 were new members in the school. So dishearting for th kids to see thier parents not care enough to come and voice thier opinions. Are chairpeople are asked to come to the meetings We have 5 meetings a year the last one is voting night. I tried keeping my meeting short (1hr) and since half of our committees chairpersons didn't come I read off what I had of information and the other 5 read off thier inputs and announce open committees and board postions waited for nominees and no takers. The end of the meeing was question and ansewers. Nothing. The motioned to adjourn , total meeting time twenty minutes. How sad, for our students.

What are your meetings like? Do your chairmen give committee reports each month? They should. Even if they genuinely have nothing to report then they should officially say, for the record, that they have "nothing to report". Anyone reading the minutes will know the chairmen were given the opportunity to discuss their work.

Imagine a company trying to run effectively if none of the middle managers answered to the VPs, who in turn answer to the group presidents who then report to the CEO. Would the CEO be told to 'mind his own business"? No company would or could work that way and neither can a PTO.

also, let them know why you want to know, that you are trying to get new people involved and because you are new need to know how things work and who does what and blah blah blah. it is your role as president to know this information and make sure that everything is running accordingly. you may end up having to get the principal involved for the support. soemtimes the adults arer the most childish folks in the school. i like shawns ideas of posting the mission statement and goals. that helps get everyone on the same team and puts the focus back on the children. Some people are title freaks or poweer nuts and forget about the real reasons. And cape is right, always be totally respectful and mindful that you are in a school setting. someone really smart onthis site recently reminded me that everyone will watch how you act and will hear everything you say (even the mumbles). stay the bigger person.

Don your armor, step up, and be an assertive leader. Be nice. Be respectful. Divide and conquer.

Tell each chair, individually, that in order to lead the group, you need to have an idea of what's going on and how.

Either they allow you to lead or you walk. Simple. No hard feelings.

Study your bylaws, too.

Thank You for your suggestions.
We do have a Parlamentarian this is our honorary
staff member our principal. At this time he is unaware of this behavior, Why do I not bring this upto him. I feel these are grown ups acting younger then their children. Our committee chairpersons run our events the members are our parent volunteers. Is there ever a way to get everone to remember this is for the students.

Thanks agian.