A big problem we have is with our principal. She is very partial to some committees(ie: those that raise funds), but not very sympathetic to committees like our eco-friendly recycling or even the library committee. Since she controls the means of communication (ie: the school newsletter and all send home flyers have to go through her). She bearly proactive in recruiting volunteers. Every commitee has both a staff member and a parent chairperson. This creates the situation where the staff chairperson is afraid to speak up, I assume for fear of getting fired. This fear then trickles down through the rest of the committee creating a constant state of near paralysis. I am the only one who stands up to her while the others watch in fear and maybe hope. What can I do?

Our PTO has had this problem in the past and when I took over as President this year, I swore it was something I was going to change. I have changed the meeting time and am even offering 2 different meeting times on our meeting day to reach out to more people. I found the teachers and parents that don't work outside the home want to meet right after school and that doesn't allow the parents that work outside the home the same opportunity to come, so we have started having meetings at 3:30, right after school, and at 5. While it is extra work and time for me, it has helped. We are also doing a participation point program where the classes are competing for points. They get points when parents come to meetings, when teachers come to meetings, when people volunteer at the school, etc. At the end of the year, the class with the most points will get some kind of prize. We haven't decided on the prize yet, but it will be something pretty big. I still don't have a whole lot of volunteers, but I have doubled what I did have and people are bringing more ideas to the table.

Wow! That description had to have been written about us! Were you spying on us?

I am the new prez of our school's education foundation. We are not a PTO or PTA (we do have a PTO at our school, though) but I joined pto today b/c many of our issues are the same. The last few years 8-10 of us have been working our tails off. We've raised about 40K per year for teacher grants and we are proud of that. But we were burnt out and something had to change. We also had the reputation as a closed, clique-y organization. Duh...I wonder why? We hadn't had a meeting at school in 2 years!!!

This summer, after taking over as prez, I did the following:

*I scheduled all monthly meetings for the school year and had them put on the school calendar and the school website. All the meetings will be held at school. I met with some resistance from some of my "veterans" who liked having meeting at homes, but I was insistent.

*At our June reorganization meeting, we brainstormed a list of people we thought would be possible candidates to come on-board. We tried for many different skill sets.

*I typed a letter on our organization's stationary. I told each person on the list that their name had been suggested as someone with much to offer our organization and invited them to become involved. I made it sound like an "honor" although I was also clear that we'd love for them to bring others along, too. I was also clear that we were willing to accept any amount of time they could give, knowing that once they came to a few meetings, they'd probably get caught up and be active. The letter gave a specific deadline for responses.

*I was amazed at the response. I sent out 39 letters. We had about 15 positive responses!!! We've had only 2 meetings so far this year, but both have had an attendance of about 20! I have 29 on my current list of members. We are thrilled!

*I attended and spoke at our Kindergarten parent orientation and all 3 Back to School nights. I recruited several others through these nights.

*I send home notices about the meetings and began sending a newsletter via pto today's constant contact.

I think the key is to keep at it and be open and friendly. And keep plugging away...

Good luck to everyone!

I had actually dug that article out of the archives the other day Tim, mainly by accident, but had all ready book marked it to share with the board in a future meeting....

It certainly helped me to view things a bit differently!

Wow - didn't realize this topic would elicit so much great conversation and constructive discussion. Love it.

Some of the feedback reminds me of this column I wrote last year on the mindsets of the "old pro" volunteer vs the "newbie" volunteer.

www.ptotoday.com/pto-today-articles/arti...le-of-two-volunteers

The key is for both sides to remember that the other side has good intentions. Communication, as always, remains key.

Tim

In response to Gary, thank you for the tip, I have recently started to really push the issue in that same way that you suggested and notice that it is helping a lot. I have encountered the subtle way they twist the situation into an "i forgot to follow up with the volunteers you recruited" . I have made it my priority to connect chairs to volunteers--hey, that's what I signed on for! Luckily, this negative group is now in the minority. I guess I'll just have to keep plugging. I can really see how this clique thing happens though, even with my best intentions and the support of the entire Executive Board--The chairpeople with limited time get things done effectively and efficiently with a wide range of volunteers, no drama involved. The chairpeople who join the PTA to fill their days drag projects on, do not include others and make it seem like they "own the place." --exclusive rather than inclusive. This type of behaviour is very detrimental to our organization--we lose credibility with parents, teachers and staff about our intentions. Especially since we have such a giving parent body and supportive school administration. I'll keep you posted, thank you Gary.