I'm all for change if the new way can bring better results. Yes, it can be scary, and yes, the first time you try the new way it may not be 100% successful. Just because "it's always been done this way," or "we've never done it like that before," "that's not the way we do it," may have brought OK results--you'll never know if something will be better until you try!
I find myself resistant to change when the person bringing up the new idea doesn't really have anything to back up what they're saying, and they seem more interested in doing it THEIR way rather than a better way.
Daddio, I'm hear to tell ya changes can be made and best done slow and non-confusing. We too have some crazy polices that I was told "that's just the way it is" and (with some help) I said...not this year!
The hardest change was our money was held with the Activites Fund at school, not a great plan but once again "that's just the way it is". This past summer, the new CFO for the school called me to come in and talk about our new account. Good change...bad way to do it. The school made the bank choice (hate it!) and basically told us (again) this is were EVERYONE has their money. I'm working on this and making it know our group would have appreciated a little more consideration/respect in the process...
Change takes time......That's why there are 365 days!
That money issue is one I'm STILL trying to figure out. There's nothing in our by-laws that dictates how it should be spent. there's NEVER been a "budget". I'm only president for one year, had NO training at VP because the President wasn't very hands-on.
I wish our by-laws had guidelines on how money is to be spent. It sure would make it easier to decide.
Shelly
Yeah, spending our hard-earned PTO money on things that should come from the district is one of my pet peeves too, but sometimes it is just necessary.
This year, for instance, we found out shortly into the school year that because our school's total student number is down, we would lose funding from the county that would cut a TA position. The only place we have more than the required number was in kindergarten, and as it happens we have an exceptionally challenging bunch this year. So we decided, at the principal's request and our membership's agreement, to redesignate the amount we had budgeted for staff development to pay for a TA slot for half a year and to make it known to our PTO that if we were able to find the money somehow, we would be picking up the remaining half.
It galls me to pay for staff, especially when I think the district is delusional about what is an appropriate teacher/child ratio for 5-year-olds, but this was something we felt we needed to do.
I don't believe in just changin things either. It's not broke, but I don't think it works well either (kinda like driving on bald tires). There is a lot of things that are done, and no one really knows why or things are spent that just don't make sense to me.
We spend a lot of out money earned on things that I feel the school district should be paying for (there are others that feel this way to). And, they way we determine the budget is crazy. If I ran my business that way I would be asking to go bankrupt at somepoint in the future. But, for those that have been here for a while, they don't see the need to plan in a different way nor do they want to go through steps to make the change.
They way things are now does work, and has worked well enough for many years. But I really think we could optimize our funding and put it towards more things that directly affect our kids.
