This is my fist post and I regret that it isn't a positive one. I have been a member of our elementary school PTO for three years, two of them as a board member and this year I was asked to serve as President of the PTO. I have a business background and have served as President of other civic organizations (with a good deal of success). Since assuming my current role, I have discovered quite a few problems and have worked hard to remedy them without calling out anyone who might have been involved.
Some of the problems so far:
Faulure to file tax returns with IRS for past 5 years (yes, the IRS caught up with us...past President says it's no big deal.
Failure to have treasurer books audited for over 3 years..again, no big deal even though books are off by several hundreds of dollars
I was told we did not have by-laws...they were found in a closet
Committee chair for first event refused to return phone calls until 1 week before event
budget constructed using past budgets - it seems like more money because I included many expenses that we normally pay but don't budget for
Board is comprised of 16 members yet 2 of them have yet to show for a meeting - and nobody is willing to support my asking them to step down
Tonight my chair for an upcoming event stepped down because I suggested we consider updating this annual event due to poor attendance last year. I was told that I had offended this person by inserting myself where I was not welcome
I am nearing my wits end and am starting to question my own effectivness as a PTO leader. During my time on the board I have initialted multiple projects and they have been and still are successful. I have been told that change is bad and that as someone who did not grow up in the community I am an outsider and I should not mess with things. How do you determine when you really are the problem? When is stepping down best for the group? I thought I had thick skin, but this may prove to be too much.