Wow, when I read this I would have thought I was a crazy volunteer also.
Hello to everyone who has responded to the original email. I am the crazy volunteer mentioned.
Unfortunately, the whole story has not been told. Please allow me to give you my side of the situation. And I would greatly appreciate any feedback once you have both sides. It may take awhile because a LOT has happened to get to this point.
I am a new mom to the school. When I attended the first PTO meeting, there were many parents, because it was immediately following the meet the teacher. I was thrilled to see all of the parents, because it was an excellent opportunity to get the PTO off to a positive start.
Unfortunately, the meeting did not go as well as I or several of the moms I met had hoped. It was simply too "informal" and 'rushed'. The president stood in front of the cafeteria table she had been sitting at, this was not in a position where everyone could see or hear her. She quickly introduced herself and the officers, covered one or two other topics, thanked everyone for coming and that was that.
I was surprised when it was over because I did not feel like I had learned anything to help me be a part of the PTO and the four mom's I was sitting by felt the same way. We were surprised that there had not even been any handouts(officer names, contact information, planned events, volunteer opportunities, how to join, bylaws) nothing.
After the meeting, I introduced myself to the president and vice president. I asked them about joining the PTO and I was told information would be sent home with the students.
The information did come home a week later, along with a request for room parents. On the room parent request form there was a name and a number of who to contact with questions. I called the number because I wanted to know exactly what the position of room parent entailed before I volunteered. I needed to make sure my having other children would not be a problem. It was a very positive conversation that I had with the vice president. I immediately let her know I was very interested in being the room parent.
Over the next few weeks, I would speak with the vice president almost every day. we saw each other as we were waiting to pick our kids up in the afternoon. During these conversations, she would mention how hard it was to get any volunteers and how she and the president were having to do all the work for the PTO. Again, I reassured her that I would help in whatever area I could.
It was time for the second PTO meeting. Funny thing was that the meeting had never been officially announced to the parents. Nothing was sent home with the students and the PTO schoolwebsite still had last year's information. It was up on the school marquee two days ahead of the meeting, but unfortunately the majority of students ride the bus so their parents would not see the marquee. I was the only parent that was not a board member at the meeting. the only person who introduced themselves to me was the School assistant principal. I knew who the president and vice president were since I had introduced myself to them at the last meeting, but I did not know who the remaining five people were. I listened at the meeting and took notes to have for future reference.
I was a little concerned when I learned that the Treasurer of the PTO was the husband of the President and he would not be able to attend the meetings. He needed to be home with the kids. It seemed to be a conflict of interest to have a President and Treasurer, who were wife and husband. I later learned that more members were bothered by this situation.
When I asked the vice president about the lack of parents coming to the meetings, she quickly told me that they could never get any parents to come. She also said it wasn't such a bad thing because it kept the meetings short.
As the days went by, I continued to speak with the vice president just about every day and I continued to hear about how no one would volunteer for anything and how her and the president were having to do all the work. I was now officially the room parent for my son's class. Before the Fall Bookfair, the vice president asked me if I would be interested in helping out by being the ROOM PARENT COORDINATOR? I asked her what this would entail and she told me I would need to stay in touch with all the room parents and the teachers in regards to all the PTO functions involving the classes (the Big Fall Festival and each class holiday party). She said she would get me the information and be there if I had any questions or concerns. I asked her if this was okay, since I was a new member and she quickly told me it was fine. She said she had discussed it with the president and it was agreed that I would be good for the position since I did want to help so much. I did want to help and now I had an area that I could focus on.
I helped out at the first PTO function (fall bookfair). At this bookfair, I spent more time speaking to the President and Vice president. the vice president introduced me to the woman who had been the Room Parent Coordinator the previous year. I asked her if she had any tips or advice for the position I had been given, and she told me to be sure to communicate well with the room parents and teachers.
At the bookfair, the vice president recommended that I contact each of the room parents to introduce myself and let them know I was in the position of Room Parent Coordinator.
That following week, the vice president sent home a letter and room parent packet to each of the room parents. In the letter, she states that if there is any questions to contact the president, herself, or me, "the Room Parent Coordinator". In the room parent packet, on all the sample letters we are to use for each class hall party it states if you have any questions contact, "my name" and the title "Room Parent Coordinator".
Over the next few weeks, I continued to visit with the vice president almost daily as we waited to pick up our children. I kept her informed on how things were going with the room parents.I had contacted each one and asked them if they had any questions or concerns about their role as room parent and the upcoming functions; any questions i would take down and get back with them once I had the answer. I explained that I was a new mom and I would not have all the answers since I was learning, but I would do whatever I could to find out what they needed.
About this time, there was another PTO meeting -- again, nothing was sent home with the students, and the website still had not been updated from the previous year. I had mentioned that to the vice president and she told me that the president and her husband were in charge of the PTO website. She also stated that there was actually a new website, not tied in with the school site. I asked her if there was a way to hyperlink the sites so that when a parent clicked on the old website they would be immediately sent to the new one? She said the president and her husband would have to answer that.
Things started to get funky about here. During this time the kids had done their fall fundraiser. Again, the vice president and president were in charge; stating that no one else wanted to help. The fundraiser came and went. The results were briefly mentioned at the PTO meeting, but nothing was posted or sent home with the students or put on the school website. I was very curious how much money had been raised and if it was enough to cover the upcoming functions and field trips? Whenever I asked about the PTO finances, I never seemed to get an answer. And as I mentioned earlier, the treasurer was not at any PTO meeting.
The school's big event, the fall festival was fast approaching, and again the president and vice president were in charge - even though there was a board member named for this position? As it came close to the time to prepare for the festival, I had been staying in touch with all the room parents (each room parent was responsible for a grade level booth and a grade level basket to be auctioned off at the festival). I had been keeping in touch with the room parents to make sure they had there booths covered for working it the day of the festival and to make sure they were doing okay in getting their baskets for the auction. I got to know several of them pretty well. it was great. During all of the conversations, I discovered there were a lot of moms, dads, and grandparents who wanted to help. I was estatic to discover this. I had individuals who actually wanted to be a part of setting up for the Fall festival and take it down when it was over. I thought this was wonderful news and quickly told the vice president. Her response shocked me. She told me they did not need any help. She said the board members would take care of it themselves and that was better because it would be less of a hassle. I did not know how to respond to this, because I had people who WANTED to help. When I asked the president if it would be okay for the other room parents to come to the school to help, she said yes. The vice president was not happy about this. Our afternoon conversations ended immediately; it was strange.