We have two people running for the spot of President. One is the teacher and the other is the current secretary. This year's secretary was last years VP. She is very involved in the school and she works full time. I am the current treasurer and we have talked about ways that we can better the school for our children. The person that has been making all the changes is this years co-president and she is also a teacher. I have been part of the PTO now for 2years and last year we only did 2 skate city nights and nothing else. This is year we have done 2 skate city nights and a sock hop and a movie night. The one person that is running for president helped with the sock hop and the movie night. The teacher that is running and the two current presidents didn't help with any of the things. We have about 4 regular people at our meetings. They are all running for VP and Secretary (2for each one) but all 4 are voting for the one president and me. But with the way the voting was set up we think that the teacher is going to win. We think that the current president knew this and changed the voting. Our Bi-laws are not very straight forward so we don't know if she could have done this or not. We have tried to get her with the bi-laws but she then says this is the way she reads them. If the one president is elected then we know that the bi-laws will be changed to read better but if the other one is elected we are not sure of any changes.
We have a couple of other teachers that have been very involoved. One even planned and put the Sock Hop on which turned out great. We like our teachers being involoved but we think that she should have helped out a little more before running for president. The only thing in our bi-laws that might not allow her to run is that they say you have to have participated in at least 2 PTO sponsor events to be considered for President or VP. Our principle says that attending these fuctions is participation.
Gaddini, I have to agree with CrewChief. Does your Bylaws indicate anything about a quandry or a vote?
Usually the Bylaws will indicate that, at a minimun, there must be at least 2 officers to hold a quandry (discussion) and to vote. It sounds as though this did not happen. If the Bylaws were not followed properly then possibly you could bring the voting change up during your next meeting (if it is prior to the elections) or at worst via an e-mail to the entire group ( but I would discuss with your President first so that she is not blindsided).
The next part of your problem seems to be from the teacher getting involved. Normally I would think it is great for a teacher to be attending meetings and getting involved in this way. At the same time I can understand your concerns about how teachers may wish to use funds differently than parents would. Just imagine how the discussion on Teacher Appreciation would go if this teacher becomes the President. But at the same time, depending again on the wording of your Bylaws, there may be nothing that you can do about it.
One question I have is why the outgoing President seems so intent on getting this teacher elected? It almost sounds as though the time schedule for voting is something that was brought up to her, possibly by the wannabe Teacher/President? Anyway, one more question I have about that is whether or not all teachers have voting rights for these elections? The timeframe seems to be so that all teachers could vote this person in.
Also, is there anyone else that you know of that may be willing to step up and take on the job? If not, and if you are not willing to, then your group may have to live with the possible consequences of that.
I can also tell you this about my group...
It specifically states that "Any parent, guardian or staff member is automatically considered a member of the PTO". This also indicates that any parent, guardian or staff member has the right to be involved and even run for election if they desire.
Once again I can see your dismay. let us know on the questions...
no we just sent home a letter saying that we were doing the elections and then who ever was selected we put on a ballot. We jst listed the President and then the names that were running for that under it and then so on for all the other offices. everyone has had such great replys to this post. We are going to try anf change how things are run next year and make the bi-laws more easly read. Thank you guys very much and if you have any further ideas on how we might be able to change our bi-laws to benefit everyone and make them not so confussing I would love to hear them.
gadinni, my biggest concern about your post is hearing that the president changed the voting process without approval. If it is against your byaws, I would declare the outcome null and void and demand a revote that follows proper procedures.
I wouldn't be too concerned about the teacher running for president simply because she's a staff member and until recently, inactive as a PTO member. Staff members can be extremely effective officers and inactive members often become highly active after the election. You don't know what other demands she has on her time. Other commitments may currently be more important but her focus can shift from that to this once she's elected.
That said, however, you know this person and we don't so you may have completely different reasons for mistrusting her abilities to lead your team. Like asking the PTO to fund an adult softball team?!?!? I can't believe the membership approved that. If it's counter to the mission statement in your bylaws, I would motion to retract the allocation.
$5,000 in general funds is a lot to leave laying around. I agree with you about more family nights or free events for the students. How about a year end function? My son's school is having a "DJ and Snowcones" day today to celebrate the end of testing week. It's probably a pretty cheap and easy event to run but the kids are all super excited about it.
Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for awhile and leave footprints on our hearts. And we are never, ever the same."
"The ultimate aim of karate lies not in victory or defeat but in the true perfection of one's character."
We have set up a nominating committee. It is a group of 3 people - 2 parents and a current board member that talk to the nominations to go over what is required of them and "interview" them. If the person still wants to be on the ballot we will add their name and it is open for all PTO members to vote on. If the nominating committee does not feel the person is sincere or has concerns about them they will not nominate them for the ballot.
