Well our meeting came and went. I now have a copy of our "supposed" bylaws. They are not dated, but I would guess 10-15 years old. They are from when our school was a K - 6th. We are now a K-2. This years pres. is still insisting on being pres. again. I got alot of my issues with her off my chest. She says things will be different next year. I really doubt it. But I guess I will try to hang in there. What other choice do I have. The other officers all agreed we need to look at the bylaws and redo them concerning officers, elections, etc. Since our school is only a 3 year school, I feel like officers should be limited to 1 year terms except the VP that will automatically moved up to Pres. the following year. This offers more parents the opportunity to be officers. We are supposed to meet to rework the bylaws this summer before school starts. I AM GOING TO STICK TO MY GUNS! This had better happen. She has a previous history of blowing smoke! This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

EVERYONE WISH ME LUCK! I am a nervous wreck! The executive board is meeting today to discuss what to do about officers for next year. How to go about hopefully an election and how long their term should be. The now pres. didn't even notify all the board members of the meeting!!! Several parents have been calling the principal lettinghim know their opinion about an election and that they thought this last years PTO was the worst year ever. I hope our principal will listen. I'm afraid we might not even have a PTO if this years pres. is it again! PRAY FOR ME @ 11:15. That is when our meeting is!!

THANKS!!!! [img]smile.gif[/img] [img]smile.gif[/img] [img]smile.gif[/img] [img]smile.gif[/img] [img]smile.gif[/img] [img]smile.gif[/img] [img]smile.gif[/img] This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

What in the world does a school need with a big screen TV/VCR/DVD?! I can't believe the membership ever agreed to by-laws that allow one officer that much freedom with the money. Our board can only approve items to $100, anything over that must go to the membership. You all need a real revamp of your organization. I was worried because I couldn't find a constitution and by-laws when I came into our organization and we were operating under the school's non-profit status--not kosher. We now have all those things and I know I feel better knowing there are a firm set of policies to follow. It eliminates the risks of power hungry Presidents, controlling Principals, and unscrupulous Treasurers. We thankfully haven't had any of those situations, but the structure is there to protect us in the future. DEMAND a copy of those supposed by-laws and then get to work changing them to put the control back in the hands of the membership.

You can change the bylaws or make a set of new ones but the only fair way to do anything is to have a meeting at least once a month with all pto parents and hold a vote on the changes you can make them anything you want and for your president is concerned she needs to get off her high horse. You can not spend money without voting on the purchase or try to do everything on their own and the principal should not be meeting with just her and should be you as well because you are vp. See I recently took vp and we do have a lot of arguing going on know with other parents over stupid things and my theory is if you can't act like an adult and pull together for your children here is your dues you paid and there is the door because as a pto you do not have time for the stupid things like sally is talking about susie. the principal should not have to be involved other then being updated on things from your meetings. You also can not hand pick officers you should have an election. So when you become President remember you can make the changes you just have to have a backbone and broad shoulders because i would imagine that you will get alot of flak but i support you because i understand what you are going thru.

If old by-laws were found, surely it states that someone could be president for two years if ELECTED. I can't believe that by-laws were written for an organization without mentioning elections and an executive board. You can't just appoint people into chair positions, you have to open it up for nominations and elections. Too bad this is all coming up at the end of the year when its getting too late to do anything.

I have totally reorganized our PTO this year. First I updated our bylaws, applied for a new tax id, incorporate our PTO, and then applied for (and was just recently approved for) 501c3 status. This was my goal as president this year and I made it in the nick of time! Anyway our old bylaws said vp for one year and then pres for one year and we (as a bylaw committee) kept it that way. HOWEVER, I have had second thoughts since then if that's the way it should be handled because around March of this year I finally felt like I knew what I was doing (how to run the meetings, how to take a step back and look at things from others' point of view, and how to be impartial). Anyway, we followed our bylaws. The vp will be the pres after the June meeting. However, no one wants to be vp next year. This won't be a huge problem next year but what about the year after that when we have no pres? Part of the problem is the 2 year committment (vp then pres). I think we should change our bylaws to say the president may be ELECTED president for a maximum of (let's say) 3 years (if he or she chooses). At that time the vp may be ELECTED president if he/she is nominated. Anyway, that's not how our bylaws are written and I will abide by the bylaws (which a group of 3 of us wrote and all of the officers approved).
My advice to you is to follow the bylaws. But if you see something that should be changed make a motion to set up a committee to review the bylaws. Vote on the needed changes... If something is not following the bylaws (officers election etc...) this should be brought up at your meeting. (Umm, excuse me, but the bylaws says that a nomiation committee must be set up and then officers voted on with a quorum.) or whatever!
Good luck!