President Jim,
Thanks for clarifying yourself but your example of "if you had a Principal that decided that they were going to use your hard earned funds to replace the roof?" is exactly what I was stating earlier. The principal would definitely have the right use of the hard earned money .Wow to think you would rather send the kids to the zoo than fix the roof of the structure that the children spend 5 out of 7 days in is so frightening. I think I better stay off this blog after all. I see extreme control issues showing here and its not about the children. Sorry I definitely disagree with your thinking on this one.
children first

I just want to clarify that our school’s PTO is much more than a fundraising group. We host family dances and family movie nights as well as the money making fall festival. Room parents assist classroom teachers with copying, bulletin boards, etc. Parents assist the counselor, the librarian, the art & music teacher as well as the P.E. teacher. I guess I should re-phrase my comment, we are the “hands and feet” of all the teachers and staff members as well as of the principal.

We have all felt the effects of budget cuts and sadly field trips are the first to go. Each grade level had one school sponsored trip this year. To supplement the parents organized monthly fieldtrips on the weekends with the assistance and blessings of the teachers. The fieldtrips were great fun! Just goes to show you that there is always more than one way to get things done.

childrenfirst,

I think you might be misunderstanding what I, CapeDad and others are saying. Again it all comes down to what you want out of your group. Also, I would imagine that a High School PTO would be somewhat different than an Elementary PTO. The point is that sometimes the administration's priorities are different than the parents (or PTO's). That doesn't necessarily make the Principal's priorities the correct or incorrect way to go, just at times different. For example, right now we (the PTO) want to help presuade the teachers into taking the students on away from school Field Trips. IMO this is a great learning opportunity for the children. Remember how fun those trips were when you were a kid? But what if your Principal did not agree with that and was more than willing to support in-house enrichment instead of away from school Field Trips? If you are a committee that controls their own funds then you decide what you want the funds to be used for. The other way allows the Principal to use those funds for whatever they want. This is what I disagree with...

It is quite possible, that with the correct type of principal, that this way to handling things would not be an issue. But what if you had a Principal that decided that they were going to use your hard earned funds to replace the roof? Or to purchase every staff member a personal laptop computer?

Now this may seem farfetched, but what if? Some of you may think that if the Principal feels that this is the way the funds should be used then that is the best for the school, but again, IMO, it comes down to the purpose of your group. Some have explained a system that makes it sound as though the purpose of their group is to fundraise, at the request of the Principal, for a specific reason. I'm sure that can work out well, but, again IMO, that sounds more like a fundraising committee than a Parent-Teacher Organization. As I and CapeDad have suggested this type of system seems to actually have a President and a Treasurer, but they are both the school's Principal. Again IMO, if most of us agree that it would not be a good idea to have a PTO President solely responsible of the group's funds (effectively as the Treasurer) then the same could be said for this system where the Principal is effectively deciding how to use the money and then signing the checks.

Though I want to state again that there is not just one way of doing things. What seems like bad precidence to me may be perfect for others. If it works for you then great. I don't think this is an issue of egos on our parts, and we all do understand that the school's Principal knows what is needed. But it always comes down to what your group's purpose is. I assume that all of our group's purpose is to "put the children first", but it comes down to how you are going to do that. Personally I am glad that I am part of a group that raises, controls and decides how to do this and that we don't just effectively hand over a blank check.

Good luck,
PresidentJim

either system can work at a school as long as the people involved are doing it for the kids. sadly, many times the positions are taken by parents who are doing it to fulfill some need they havent filled elsewhere. i have seen both at play. and basically thats what it boils down to, who is running the committee or group, and why are they doing it. its not the type of structure that dictates if the group works well or not, its the PEOPLE who are involved.

New to this thing but...
Just by reading many of these messages I see that there is a lot of egos at work. The purpose of the PTO at our HS has always been to put the children first and we have found that the Principal of our school is at the pulse of the needs of our school. When there is a need from a teacher, staff, or parent they will always contact the Principal. Then it is passed on to our PTO. To think that you know the needs of the school more than someone that is there everyday including many weekends is quite presumptuous. Once again putting egos aside who is really benefiting from having an independent organization. If there is a harmonious setting then there is no need for it. I have seen the PTO work both ways and if the school has a solid volunteer basis then it will work either way with a president or committees. Just remember why we are there. It is to support not to divide. Good luck

Children First

I just want to add a few things to this conversation.

There is no doubt that operating a parent group through 'committees' without officers and clearly defined roles could work just fine. I think that the smaller the group, in terms of activities and fund raisers, the more successful it can be.

However, there are several issues inherent in that structure. First is the ability to communicate across the board. With officers on point and supervising the committees, perhaps the leaders will see an opportunity for coordinating purchasing, see a scheduling conflict before it becomes a problem, or simply help direct a volunteer with certain skills to the committee that needs those skills.

Second is that absence of person(s) accountable for issues that involve the parent group but do not fit into the committee descriptions. PR issues, unhappy parents, future ideas, etc.

There is also the financial control aspect. If all the cash handling is going to be done by the school bookkeeper and principal, then they are essentially your president and treasurer. You are also subject to the school district's policies regarding collecting money, which may be difficult to implement in typical PTO activities. There may also be complex procedures for doing a simple refund for whatever reason, where a PTO can simply process the refund quickly.

PresidentJim already touched on the meeting aspect. IMO, running meetings should be a president's #1 priority. Attending to old business, reporting on current business, and hearing potential new business keeps the group moving forward. Committee reports are an important part of meetings, but there should be more to them. Who runs the meetings without officers?

When I agreed to be president at our school, we basically ran as school committees. What this ultimately led to was the president taking up all the slack and working her tail off and burning out. I was not going to do that, so I agreed to be president only after we agreed as a group to organize. After two years, some members still have not quite caught on to the whole independent with structure idea, but we are making significant progress. I will be president one more year, and hopefully the transformation will be complete by the time I am done.

Each school and parent group operates within its own unique culture. I believe the secret to a successful group is to match your style to that culture. Structure the group so no one person has too much power or responsibility and hop everyone fills their role as best they can.