We need to oust our current PTO leader of which is not performing up to her duties. Our bylaws exclude verbiage regarding “Removal of an Officer"; action must be taken quickly. What steps can we as members & all other officers due to take immediate action?
Reason for removal of President:
1. Can't produce receipts for expendititures
2. No show at PTO meetings (to date 4/6 meetings)
3. Lack of communication with officers/members.
4. Deadlines for school events have not been met.
5. Some events even had to be cancelled due to lack of organization.
6. Negative reactions; he said/she said…
7. PTO documentation has either been lost or has been completely ruined i.e., spilled drinks/food. Disgusting and dishearting to the team.
Officers are not happy, volunteers/parents are confused, and the top of the list our children are missing out.
I think you guys should run for school board! Our PTA Treasurer ran last year and made it! There was nothing in the by-laws involving a conflict of interest - though there is nothing conflicting about it anyways..at least not yet!
In my opinion, this type of unilateral decision by a small group of people is one of the reasons a lot of people choose not to get involved in PTO/PTA's - they believe (whether it's true or not) that a "click" in the school run things and don't want or need their input. I don't blame you for being upset, and maybe even worried that this might damage the relationshep between the PTO and the average parent.
I'm not sure what you would have to do in order to get the new bylaws changed immediately, have her removed, or get an injunction for her to stop spending the PTO money.
It is absolutely wrong for her to be able to make the decisions of how the PTO money should be spent and not being accountable to anyone. I would get as many parents together as possible to show up at the next meeting and call her out. Do your research and find out if it she was allowed to dissolve the PTA without input from the membership (what do the old bylaws or rules say?) and who put her in charge of the PTO money? Check Robert's Rules since most PTO bylaws are based on Robert's rules and forming an organization to see what is standard practice for setting up an organization and creating the original bylaws.
This is money that parents of students throughout the entire school have contributed to. Where does she get off taking over as a dictator. You should demand answers from her AND the Principal that is allowing this governing body and turning their backs on democracy and ethical behavior. Take it to the board of education if need be to stop any further action as well. The fee of the lawyer for creating the organization and writing the new bylaws is absurd. See if you can get a parent that is a lawyer to volunteer to represent the PTO membership at the next meeting!
wow, the principal helped to approve a 4K work order for an attorney who is the spouse of one of his staff?? unbelievable.
not a good judgemnt call on the part of the prinicpal, imo. i would be concerned about how the rest of the shcool is being run. and i would have no impulse to try to work things out with a principal who would take such actions, let alone not have the parent body take a vote.
i joked, maybe the attorney was the spouse of the principal, seems it was not too far off! good luck in trying to acheive your goals. will be tough is my guess from what little has been described. the devil is in the details (or politics).
I'm not a member/user but one of the other "complainers" drdeb mentioned in her posts. I read with interest all the suggestions, comments and questions. Not only did the current PTO president (who is the former PTA pres and a teacher in our district but not in the MS) unilaterly decide to change status, she also approved the expenditure of PTA funds to the tune of over $10,000 for things outside the purview of the dissolution clause of the existing by-laws. When she was called to task on it, and advised that there could be tax ramifications, she panicked and that's why she ran to an attorney . . . to see if she could be liable . . . I doubt very much that it had anything to do with incorporating the PTO but simply that she wanted to c"h"a! When we informed her that it was unnecessary to hire an attorney to incorporate or at the very least to act as a non-profit organization, she told us "what's done is done." When we questioned why she didn't seek an attorney who would act pro bono, she flatly stated that she hired the only attorney who called her back. When we asked why she didn't seek the assistance of a member (as I'm sure there are many attorneys who have students in our school and who are members of the PTO) we were told that she didn't want the appearance of impropriety (even though the attorney she hired is the spouse of a teacher). As for the principal of the school, PTA funds have traditionally been used to purchase major items for the school that should be allocated by the district but are not. He has used the PTA, now PTO, to his own ends so it is understandable that he would rather see the current president in office than one of the "complainers" because our agenda is to see that funds raised by the organization truly go to the students. He would never admit to this and trys to be diplomatic about the situation but I think he would really like for us to all disappear! That's my take on the situation. It's such a shame that so much of the year has been wasted already but we "complainers" all feel very strongly that this organization, whether it's a PTA or a PTO, could be much more welcoming and productive, and we will do all we can to see that we achieve this goal. Thank you all for your support and suggestions!
