TinaKay,
I've tried to write a response three times now and have been kicked off by aol each time. Guess that means I should write a quicker note!
*to justdoit- why pay to be a pta? Our dues are $4. - big deal- that's how much I give my two older kids every day for lunch. For that price I am part of an organization that has structure in the form of rules that are really not that hard to live by. In fact many of the questions on this discussion forum are answered in PTA by-laws. I also believe in the the national policies of the pta and like having a voice in congress. If I have questions I can ask a District Director, I can go to a policy manual, I can educate myself at a regional meeting.
*Changing by-laws- sorry TinaKay, you're right, I meant standing rules of order. But we've done that by just sending in the changes to the state PTA. No questions, everything ok'd.
*I don't understand about donating to the needy family. We make a donation every year to two non-profit organizations. From what I understand (and I'm not the Treasurer) if you donate to a non-profit then you have to pay taxes on that amount.
*Last point, I think our PTA has been around so long that we just don't think that hard about how to do things because most stuff has been done before and we're just fine tuning. I would not like to be starting ANY parents group. Good luck to you!

hi-I'm also a PTA president- I'm in a different state then you, but we can amend our bylaws up to 3 times. There are certain things that cannot be altered and those usually pertain to bylaws that are adopted as National PTA bylaws....
We must have a nominating committee that is elected not appointed. Our bylaws state how this is done and how many wWE have chosen to be on this committee. We can also add requirements to hod a position on the board. As far as choosing the chairpeople this is done according to NYS guidelines that the president of the unit with the cooperation of the Executve Board/Committee shall choose the chairpeople.....

As far as voting- you stated that you wanted to add the rule that you had to pay dues and attend 3 meetings before you had voting priveldges..i don't personally agree with that- If you are A paid due member of the PTA that entiltles you to vote on any issue or election for the PTA...I'm pretty sure most PTO's work the same way as long as you pay your dues you can vote. No attendance requirement....there can be an attendance requirement to hold a position on the Executive board/committee...

Also Kathie, one more thing I forgot to mention....you said you can change the by-laws if they're not working for you....our District Director said ABSOLUTELY THE BY-LAWS CAN NOT BE CHANGED OR ALTERED IN ANY WAY. We wanted to add that you had to be a paid member and have attended 3 meetings before voting for officers....and I was told YOU CAN'T DO THAT. They said anything we wanted to add to "personalize" our PTA had to be put seperating at "Standing Rules" and the State PTA would "review them". I was told I absolutely could not alter anything in the standard by-laws from the State PTA.....that I was to just "fill in the blanks" with pertinent information. That's what we're upset about....it's just "too structured"
But thanks for all the input...every little bit helps!!!! [img]smile.gif[/img]

I've been dealing with the PTA District Director to get our by-laws in accordance to what they are suppose to be....I was told we HAVE to have a nominating comming, we HAVE to have an Executive Board, we HAVE to have an Executive Committee, we CANNOT pick committee chairs, we CANNOT donate money (for example: a family who has 3 kids in our school recently got burnt out...lost everything) and when I just mentioned it in passing to the Director she said YOU CANNOT DONATE TO THEM!!! Understand that the District Director has gone out of her way to help me, it's not that, it's just, YOU CAN'T DO THIS, YOU CAN'T DO THIS, THIS HAS TO BE DONE THIS WAY, YOU CAN'T DO IT THAT WAY. It's frustrating!!!!!! We're just a bunch of parents that are trying to be there for our kids....but after looking into if we were doing this right or not, all we're told by the PTA is what we CAN'T do. We have about 25-30 members also, so why should we pay $3.50 each to the PTA (Starting next years the dues are gonna raise) when we can charge $2-3 as a PTO and benefit the school. It just seems there's too many rules regarding PTA's. Tina

"I just don't get what the big deal is about being a PTO or a PTA. I've been a member of both and like PTA better but I think it's more due to the people in it that gives each group it's flavor"

Kathie, I agree with you that there's not much difference. So why should we pay so much money if there's no difference? If two things are equal and one costs $0 and one costs hundreds of dollars, then wouldn't you buy the free one?

TinaKay,
I was just wondering what problems you are running into. I am President of a PTA of an elementary school the same size as yours and I can say that our organization is pretty loosely run but we're following all the rules as far as I know. You can change your by-laws for your group if they're not working. You can change the definition of people's positions, you can eliminate positions if you find they're not needed and you can add them if you want to. In our school district we have three elementary school PTA's and we're all different but all three work. I just don't get what the big deal is about being a PTO or a PTA. I've been a member of both and like PTA better but I think it's more due to the people in it that gives each group it's flavor. Like if you get a group that is real clicky and doesn't let outsiders in, or one that is deperate for volunteers, or a group that is really disorganized. That's what makes a group good or bad, not it's name. jmho, Kathie