You do sound like you are in a similar position.
Are your Bylaws non-specific like mine are? They don't have any updated information so they aren't helping me much. Our Vice President of Fundraising hasn't even looked at them for the past three years that she has been on the board.
To me there is something wrong with that.
How do other people at your school feel about your PTC?
I asked to have a meeting with the Executive Board to resolve these issues as soon as possible. The President is bad mouthing me and the other two board members that started asking questions after I began asking mine.
She's actually calling us names, which I don't want to repeat here.
So confusing.
We are in a similar positon right now.Except I as the president asked some of those questions and was told not to question the treasurer. We are all new to this, except I spent my summer on this website looking into alot of the same questions posted here and I found out alot of great answers. I printed out alot of info. from other treasuers and past officers. I gave all of these to the new treasuer and quess what. She doesn't want to use them. Well I asked how were we going to do something and now we aren't speaking. She only will speak to me if it has to do with signing checks. Both of us have to sign all checks. She also feels that we should not have to ask the principal for things. She has stepped on a few toes at the school. I tried to find out the way staff wanted us to handle things. I was told I had no right to do that and that if I wanted to act on the behalf of the PTC I had to discuss it with the other officers first. Just because I was the president I had now right.I went to our principal with my personal frustrations and again I was told by the other officers I was in the wrong. At least thats how the treasurer and vice president feel. Help i'm so frustrated right now.
Thanks Tim. The guidebooks are still in a box in her garage. I have asked to see them. She wants to go over the information first.
I tried three times to speak with her about the questions that I had. I emailed 3 times, phoned twice. Each time she avoided my questions in the email. As for the phone calls she said budget questions and how things work would be discussed at the meeting and to bring my questions with me.
I told her I wanted to know the policy and procedure of how things are done. I don't need to know that information was her reply.
So I brought my questions with me.
She really thinks this is a volunteer position and you don't need to follow your job description, and how dare I ask those questions.
Can you give me an example of what the executive board really is? Ours is so messed up.
Well of course signing up for the National PTO Network was a good decision! She must be a great leader.
(Kidding)
Sounds like you guys really need to slow down and look at some basics, hopefully in a calm, cool manner.
These issues almost always come up when there aren't basic policies/bylaws in place and followed for a long while. And it's for these very reasons that we recommend following policies and procedures even for groups that are seemingly running well.
Did you ask your questions at a Board meeting or a general meeting? While you have every right to ask any question at either, your president might feel blindsided/defensive (even embarrassed) if these questions were asked at a general.
I hope you and the other core leaders of your group can mend fences with your president. Odds are that she's been working really hard, is well-intentioned and hasn't done anything wrong. The key is to recognize those three things, and then explain why you think policies and procedures (developed collaboratively) are the best long-term solution for your group. If your core leaders can agree on this, then it's much easier to bring that suggestion and proposed solutions to your general meeting.
Honestly, you have an advantage in your efforts to get organized since you are an NPN group. besides the insurance plan, you should also have there the NPN Expert Guides on bylaws and policies as well as our Treasurer's guide. Both offer strong starting points for buttoning up.
Well I asked the questions at our last meeting. I asked if I could see the profit/loss sheets and balance sheets for the months of June/July. We were never given that information and between May and August $33,000.00 was spent.
I also asked if I could see the information from our last audit. Also I wanted to know what the procedures were when money was taken out of the cash register at a school function. Where it went, who was able to take out the money.
The President and Tresurer took those questions so personally. I wasn't attacking them, (as they say). I asked my questions very calmly, and I thought in a professional manner. (So did everyone else at the meeting).
The President was so angry she wouldn't talk to anyone on the board that had questions. Three days have passed. She won't take any phone calls. She is too angry to discuss it.
Meanwhile, I still haven't had any questions answered. Today I received an email that there is a special meeting being held Monday.
All I did was bring up questions that needed to be answered. I feel that if you are on the Executive Board you should know these things. Am I wrong?
Our Bylaws (which aren't followed) haven't been updated in five years.
Can you give me some advice of what the executive board should know? What are the legal responsibilites of the board? We didn't even know she had signed us up for membership with PTOtoday. The only reason I found out was because I mentioned how informative it is. That's when I found out we are members. She had signed us up last May when she was looking for insurance. (We don't even know anything about that!)
Help!
Well, it does sound like you need to figure out what is going on. We are not a real formal group, but we do have controls. This is how we handle it-- At our first meeting we present the proposed budget for the year. It includes anticipated revenues and expenses that we have committed to, i.e. assemblies we have already booked, field trips, teacher appreciation, etc.
At our second meeting we will discuss, amend as necessary and vote to approve the budget. All chairpeople then have the amount available for their activity. Any expenses over that need the approval of the club president, if it is significant we bring it to a vote at a meeting. Also, any unbudgetted expenses that do not fall within a line item are brought to the club for a vote. All checks need 2 signatures on them. All reimbursement requests must be signed off on. Knock on wood, there has never been an issue of missing money!
