joshua18;133570 wrote: We have recently run into a difficult situation. A person has joined our PTO who is NOT a parent of a child served by our group (K-8). She has admitted to having a personal agenda to being a member. So far all she has done is to stir up arguments and impede the progress of the group. Any suggestions?

What's the agenda? Does it have something to do with why she's stirring up trouble? Is this a private or public school? What I would do first is look at my by-laws to see if, for any reason, this person has legitimate reasons to be a member. If there is no apparent reason for her to be there, then I would ask that she not be allowed to speak at meetings, if she attends them at all.

Personal agendas that have nothing to do with the school, but get brought into the school by individuals members who use meetings and activities to stir up trouble to just be vindictive, are the bane of all PTOs. The fact is--if this person's child(ren) are no longer part of the school, and she's just impeding progress, you need to find a way to have her removed from the situation.

I should add that we have no other conditions to being on the PTO. In other words, if she were in our school trying to do this she would not be able to join by just paying dues or committing X amount of time to events, etc. She wouldn't be able to say, "I've paid dues so that in itself qualifies me."

If you have a child in the school you are automatically a member, if no children in said school, no PTO membership.

Sounds like she got the PTO mixed up with the School Board. Our by-laws state that you have to have a child in the school and/or be employed by that school in order to be a part of the PTO.

I'm with RobinD, I'd like to hear more about what her agenda is exactly. Our bylaws also state that to be a member you must be a parent or guardian of a student or a staff member. We have had and continue to have other wonderful volunteers beyond that who help with events and programs, but they have ties by being a relative or friend of a student/staff. A few years ago we even had a parent's girlfriend who was really involved, but she understood that she had no voting rights and was fine with that. She would attend meetings and volunteer to help with things, but stayed out of the PTO "business".

I can't figure out why someone would think of coming into a group and just trying to stir things up and cause problems. What possible benefit could be achieved by this action? Ridiculous!

WFS makes an excellent point. at our school, each adult entering must get checked in thru the main office.

if the entrances are regular, they must go thru a screening process, backgrd check, etc etc by the district.

we have non-kid parents participatieng in pto, like grandparents, aunts, caregivers/nannies etc. they must go thru the screening.

it is disturbing to think a principal would let ANYONE particpate in pto on school grounds, without a child there AND with no screening measures in place.

maybe this is the perfect opportunity for you to talk about securtiy with your principal, and ask about this particular situation.

it is naturally suspect to wonder why someone with no ties to the school thru family or childcare issues (and i dont know that that is the case, its not clear from the post), would want to volunteer/be part of pto.

i mean, duh. who doesnt read the news or watch tv?

I'm shocked from reading many posts on this website that bylaws are not written so that members must have a child in the school. Otherwise, you have alternate motives by an adult for wanting to be there. It sends up red flags, for me!

Also, how does an adult get into a school where they have no business being in? Our school is locked from the time the bell rings in the morning through til the end of day bell. All visitors, parents and teachers reentering the school must be buzzed in. So I don't understand how a person would enter a school to obtain the materials necessary to join the PTO, keep up on PTO business. I hate to say it, but with all the wierdness we hear about these days, I would question anyone that wants to be a member of a PTO or any parent group when they don't have children!