No I am not on the board, so it would be a suggestion coming from the outside. Again, since our school is small and the current PTO not too approachable, I was thinking about talking to the principal. I think suggesting a "review" and update of the PTO by-laws coming from him would be MUCH better received than from "little ol' me."

Thanks for getting back to me with the suggestions.

Since your group hasn't ever had an election before, it seems like this was an opportunity to find out what needs to be tweaked in your bylaws for the next time. I wouldn't file any protests of the results, I'd just voice my thoughts on what could be done differently for the next election to avoid any possible problems in the future. For example, the fact that no one was verifying that the voters were parents could leave the group wide open for a very ugly battle if say, a losing candidate protests the results.

I know that I've found that when you write bylaws, you sometimes don't think of every possible scenario or you may think "oh, we don't need to put that in the bylaws, goodness who would do that?" Well, you might be surprised what people will try when they want to get their way! That might be something to mention to your current board when you approach them about the election policy.

Lastly, the elementary group I belonged to had a section on voting in the case of an unopposed position. If a position(or the whole slate) was unopposed, then we would present the position/entire slate to the general membership and have a voice vote to approve it. Just because someone is running unopposed doesn't necessarily mean the membership wants them in the position.

Are you on the PTO board? Effecting change from the "inside" is usually easier than from the general membership side of things.

If not, and considering that the president isn't approachable, consider speaking to several of the other PTO board members.

Speak with them with a game plan in place (i.e. "Attendance" needs to be defined in the by-laws and I also suggest the board tighten the voting procedures. According to Robert's Rules of Order, I suggest that.......using this wording..........so that "xxx" will be the result.).

We have a school that is 4 years old. Over the past 4 years, the officers have run "unopposed" so there has not been a need to vote. We had our first vote this April and I am concerned about what happened during this process. Unfortunately, the PTO by-laws that are in place are vauge. But, here are my concerns.

- The candidates were supposed to present represent themselves with speaches prior to vote. Instead, there were ballots as we walked in and a voting box.

- During the evening, various people would walk in and vote and leave. The by-laws state the "members shall be in attendance to be eligible to vote." It doesn't seem to me that walking in and voting constitutes "attendance."

- There was no one verifying if the people casting the votes were parents.

I am a VERY CONCERNED parent and clearly, see violations of the PTO by-laws as well as a gaps in the voting process.

The PTO president (both current and retiring) are not approachable. Who should I contact regarding these concerns?