Our PTO is mainly teachers only because most of our parents are willing to help with book fairs, carnival, etc., they just don't want to hold office or attend regular meetings. We do not have a "president" instead we have co-chairs - a teacher, a parent(she subs), and a para. If one can't make it to a meeting we are covered for leadership. We haven't had any problems, all meetings are open to the public, recorded, requests are voted on, our treasurer is a successful business owner and she isn't afraid to call about bad checks. Of course we are a small school of around 1200. I don't see why there should be a conflict.

agapemom - you didn't actually say whether you are a parent of a child in that school. If you aren't, and you don't generally substitute in that school, then I guess you wouldn't have worked so hard to get the PTO up and running.

I've actually avoided subbing in my children's school for this very reason. You're now toeing the line between to different roles. I've noticed that my teachers who also have kids in the school stay as "teachers"- it's just, yes, sort of a conflict. As a sub you are privvy to certain info that parents are not.

I don't feel that it is a conflict of interest. I am the President of my PTA and I am a substitute teacher. I think my background gives me more insight into the students and helps me be a better volunteer.

My last set of bylaws had this to say about officer eligibility. It's very specific:

Eligible candidates shall be defined as those who have a child/ward attending the District (###) schools.

There has been plenty of advice on these boards in favor of including teacher input when establishing a new PTO, as your school is doing now. I agree with JHB and gjcoram, for the reasons they state, that it isn't a sound practice for the long term. As you draft your bylaws, be very specific about member and officer eligibility.

During this first year, your group is bound to have plenty of issues to work through. If things come up that you or others feel are a conflict of interest for you or cause you to conflict with your boss (the principal), perhaps you can recuse yourself from the discussion and resulting vote.

Remember, overall, that while we should give attention to parents' issues, there will rarely, if ever, be a consesus on your activities. Address the issues as they arise but keep them in perspective. There will almost always be one or two (or 100 or so) nay sayers in the community.

Even for our elementary PTO, your situation wouldn't really have been an issue if you don't ever work at at your own school. Our language was actually that an officer could not be an employee at our school or someone employed in a management position for the district.

Good luck. It's always nice to get any potential hurdles out of the way in advance.