I am confused by which meeting you are refering to. Our exective board meetings are for the pres, vp, corresponding sec, secty, and treasurer only. Parents and teachers show up to the general meetings.
We hold the general meetings everyother month. Usually about 50-60 people are there. Our board meetins meet every 2 weeks. Keep in mind that we are a brand new school/pto so we keep in touch more often. We also do alot of voting via e-mail, for between meeting stuff.
I agree and think that the exec meetings are just as important as the general meeing, more so even. How else would you get things done without these meetings? I thought that the general meetins were just to let the parents and teachers know HOW we were doing and perhaps the ocasional vote on something.
As far as being too formal, is there a such thing? I dont think so. Otherwise, things will get misunderstood and a war will break out! Believe me, being formal is the only way to go.
What, if you dont mind me asking, was the issue that didnt need to be taken so seriously?? Voting, money, minutes, agendas....
We have Regular PTO meetings once a month during the school year (except Dec). We ususally get 1 to 1.5 dozen parents show up - other than the Exec Bd.
Last year we had a few Exec Bd. meetings with just the Bd. We met a few times during the summer to all get on the same page and prepare for the upcoming year. We also tried to get together about 45 minutes before a Reg. meeting just to touch base. Only once did we have a special Exec Bd meeting to discuss specific items.
Since it is mostly the same board this year, we have not needed an Exec Bd meeting yet. We have been coordinating, making decisions and taking votes via e-mail a lot this year (our Charter specifically allows this).
I agree with Critter that there are things the Exec Bd should discuss on their own, without the full PTO involved. On the other hand, Meeting Minutes should be taken and the results of decisions made should be specifically reported back to the rest fo the PTO at the next meeting.
On the other hand, if your group is like writermom and ScottMom#1, it may not ne needed that often. More power to you two - I don't know how you do it if only 2 other parents show up at the meetings.
Our Executive Board meets each month, a few days before our general PTO meeting. We would be hard pressed to conduct an efficient PTO meeting without an Exec meeting first. We use the Exec Board time to discuss issues, develop the agenda for the general meeting, and review plans. We also include our principal for part of the meeting so we all are up to speed on school issues, too. In the context of an Exec board meeting, we can discuss controversial or sensative issues without sounding gossipy. A meeting of the elected officers? - it's not exclusive, it's leadership.
We have general meetings every other month. Attendance has been steadily growing since last year to about 35-50 parents per meeting, plus an additional 4-6 staff members. Our general meetings are for voting on the recommendations of committees and officers, for dispersing information, voting on matters that require a vote according to our by-laws, and for new business from the floor.
Our board meetings are monthly. We use this time to fine tune the details of our events, discuss upcoming issues, etc. We often ask non-board members to attend if they are interested in a subject we'll be discussing. I find this a great way to get volunteers to become the future leaders.
Honestly, I don't know how we could function without a seperate board meeting. There are just to many little decisions that need to be made in a quick, efficient manner... a general meeting isn't the place for that.
Kelley
Madison PTO
Mount Vernon, WA
I do believe in them. We only have 3 per year. This is just to make sure that everyone is in agreement with what each committee is doing and that we are all on the same page as far as what direction we want our group to go in.
This is also the time to air any differences you may have about whats been going on. Better here than in a general meeting. The general membership doesn't want to sit there and listen to the he said/she said garbage. They just want to hear the "what are you planning and how much it will cost" kind of stuff.
I am with Scottmom. From reading her posts, I think she and I have a very similar school community. At our last PTO meeting, besides the board, principal, and 2 teacher reps, we had 2 parents. That is pretty standard for us and small enough to get stuff done in a regular meeting. I think it would be helpful for the board to get together even for just 30 minutes beforehand to review what's going on so that we are a little more organized and prepared, but our principal has told us that people don't like us to schedule exec board meetings because they feel decisions are already made before they get to the regular meetings.
