You don't have to pay dues if you bylaws don't define that as a criteria for membership...but they should say whether that is a requirement or not. If it is in there then the dues should be on record as having been paid. If/when we have a parent that doesn't have the means to pay--we will often find an annonymous sponsor to ensure they can become voting members of the team and no one is the wiser.
Honestly if this were the case for my group I'd be the annonymous donor and allow the family to join...then bring the discussion/issue of what defines membership up at a later meeting when it isn't linked to a particular family.
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My PTO is currently reviewing our by-laws and is making some changes to them to reflect our needs. One of our members suggested we waive the membership fees for parents who wish to be a voting member but find it hard to pay the dues. Our dues are only $5 per family per year. I am very hesitant to entertain this idea, as I feel that this fee is an important part of our organization. My question is, does anyone know if it is allowed to be a PTO if we in effect do not charge dues. What are your feelings on this? I hate to look like an incompassionate person, but I feel like we're opening up a can a worms by considering this. I'd like to be able to have a definite answer as to why we "can't" rather than "don't want to" when this topic comes up at our meeting on Thursday.
