You answer, then, is to campaign hard for the other parent who is running for president (presuming that she will be any better than what you already have). To give her the best chances in the election, encourage her to recruit parents to run with her for the other board positions your parent organization should have, such as a VP, Treasurer, Secretary, and so on. In a vote, it will be much easier for your school parents to vote for a group of dedicated parents versus just one parent trying to go it alone. This should make sense to the teachers as well.

If the election is not successful and the existing President continues, you can campaign hard for parents to withhold funds until certain provisions, like the development of by-laws with term limits, is put into place. Without money to work with, the lone president's efforts will be strangled.

Another option is to form a replacement parent organization to operate concurrently. You'll need the support of the principal to do so and you'll likely start small, with just one or two activities per year, but you could grow it until it replaces this "renegade" PTO.

There used to be a board, but when she got in there it disappeared. There were never by-laws. She has been in there 3 years. There will be an election this year because there is someone else that is aware of the circumstances and has stepped up. The pres. had one other person that acted with her in making these decisions. They have made almost all the decisions in the last 3 years. The membership will get to vote, but she has also sent out ballots to teachers. She has basically been making the rules up as she goes along. She has done a lot of good things...but I really have such a bad feeling about the things that were not so good....
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Is there a PTO board? Were her actions sanctioned by the board or did she act alone? When does her term of office expire? Are there by-laws? Are there nominations and a general election? When? Who can vote -- the board only or the general membership?

Somewhere, in the answers to all these questions, is the information for determining how the president can be replaced.

I have become aware that our PTO Pres. has given items purchased for our schools santa gift shop away to charity. She has also let others use books that were given to the PTO from our bookfair as prizes for their booth in our Halloween Carnival. This carnival then paid the individuals the money they earned for their booth. I was hoping she would just let someone else have the chance to be in office and I wouldn't have to deal with this. The problem is she is very determined to stay as Pres.. I really don't know what to do now....help!!!!