When I was president, we generally only discussed topics related to PTO business.

In this instance, I think your president handled the situation very effectively. This was a school wide concern that just happened the same day. She addressed it, explained it was a false alarm, pointed parents in the right direction to discuss it further with appropriate school personnel and then went on with business as usual.

Regarding your "what is off limits" question, I'd say anything that isn't directly related to PTO business. It's too easy to go off on too many tangents, waste time and lose track of important topics.

Many parents choose to use the PTO meeting to ask questions and vent frustrations that really should be brought up with the principal or school board. However, PTO meetings seem 'safer' so parents go that route first. In my opinion, a good president will point the parent in the right direction and then move on.

Usually PTO meetings deal with PTO related business: Fundraisers, PTO sponsored events, PTO budget expenditures, and so on.

Issues like fire drills, stranger-danger, late start days, etc. are school issues.

It's not that there necessarily is poor communication between the PTO and the school's administration, it's that your questions about the stranger-danger drill wasn't a PTO issue and shouldn't have been brought up at a PTO meeting. The PTO president shouldn't have even mentioned it at all -- that was a mistake. The principal was right not to allow the discussion to continue in that forum. Instead, the topic is something to discuss with the school's administration directly.

That the school didn't put out a note in the children's backpack or send out an automatic email or voice mail to the parents was a mistake on their part. The principal is who you'd want to talk to about that.

I decided to join the PTO this year at my daughters school. We have a new principal and a new executive commitee. The reason why I mention this is because I don't believe there is genuine communication betwween the two. My question is this: When I picked up my 6 year old daughter from school she told me she had to hide in the schools kitchen because there was a bad man in the school. I asked her if it was a drill and she said no. I then looked in her pack pack to see if there was a note from the school informing the parents what happened and there wasn't. That same day there was a PTO meeting and I was going to bring any questions I had and discuss it with the other parents and teacher members. When the subject was braught up by the president she announced that the possible threat was false and that the children were never in any danger. When we began to ask qestions we were told that the principal stressed that the PTO was not the proper forum for discussing this concern. So what is off limits for discussions at PTO meetings. Are they correct in how they responded to our concerns. ALL OPINIONS WECOME.