yes we have written a mission statement and have indicated to the board everything that we wanted to do to help the school.I have since talked with the board member who wrote the description and told him my concerns on how it was written. He has told me that I can rewrite the description myself and I must say that I feel much better about everything.
We have not settled on how the money will be handled at this point --but I am still working on that. Thanks for your opoinions!
Have your 22 parents put down on paper what it is that they WANT to do for the school, HOW they want to accomplish it, WHAT they are willing to bring to the table as far as volunteerism, and what it is that they are UNWILLING to do. Then go back to the board and negotiate.
Originally posted by allora: They will carry out the ideas, the other committees cannot handle
I'm not trying to sound communist but the workers should have a say in what will be done. If it's separated like that, then the planners are in danger of setting you all up for failure by not knowing your time and people resources. If the workers don't like what they are told to do or don't feel up to it, you have no event.
hi allora, We have one private school here that has a PTA. They are definitely different than our other PTAs in our council though. They still operate under a seperate number, seperate accounts etc but they work VERY closely with the school even running the lunch program through their PTA. They do things that our other PTAs don't have to do, like being involved in recruitment. While I would prefer that the financials be kept seperate, you should expect to allow for a little difference, being that it is a private school.
I think that wanting a completely independent organization would be unrealistic. (We too in the council understand that our private school does things differently, it's not bad, just different)
From what I read above, they just want to have a final say on activities etc and be a part of the decision making. Technically, it's this way for even the public schools. If a principal says you can't hold a fundraiser, you don't hold the fundraiser.
So your 'committee' would vote on items and decide things independently. You would then, as a committee present your ideas to the board and a final vote will be taken. A little more formal than the usual hoops you have to jump but not that different either.
My only suggestion would be that you be allowed to have your own account and prepare your budget with the director. The director will tell you what they need budgeted and you can ask that operating costs, activities etc be included in the budget.
There are no real rules to govern a private school. You will need to make some concessions.
I am curious-- why would this be the only model that you would support?
I am not sure that we want to accept this description. The 22 parents have signed up for a PTO ( I believe that they signed up for what a PTO's structure stands for) while they may be willing to join another committee-all of which will be chaired by a board member(except the PTO) I think that they still support the PTO structure. I have explained to them that the PTO will give ALL parents a voice and the opportunity to vote on what they would like the yearly goals to be.
I see the other committees as focusing on the larger issues and fundraising goals that are needed to keep the school operating.
Some parents do not feel that it is their responsibility for recruitment (for example) while our PTO's mission is to provide extras for our children and their classroom needs (we have alot of needs)
Our PTO may still be able to accomplish these goals, but the way that they wrote the description makes the PTO sound like it is the bottom of the barrel-- Maybe the acronym PIG would be appropriate.
I wish that I could figure out why the idea of a PTO holds such a negative cognitation in their minds.
thanks for your help!
[ 06-26-2004, 12:00 PM: Message edited by: allora ]
What they are after is a PTO that serves as a volunteer arm of the school and does not represent a separate financial entity. In this scenario, the school controls all fundraising.
This is not an unusual arrangement for a private school. And if I were on the administrative side, it's probably the only model I would support.
The good news is that they are trying to clearly define the roles and boundaries up front. However, I think the description could be more positively worded.
Also, you might think twice about calling it a PTO. In truth "PTO" has no one meaning and wouldn't be incorrect. But some people do have a particular structure (more independent that the one described) in mind. Just to lessen confusing, you might go with something like Parent Involvement Committee or some other name. (Watch the acronyms - "Parent Involvement Group" might not be the first choice.)
