wow.. while i don't have the time right now to speak on each issue, I want to make one quick comment on the 2 resignations. If those 2 people ( who obviously planned it together) felt the need to ambush you by publically sending a resignation letter around the meeting, I say GOOD RIDDANCE. Build a new team with people who like and respect you.. and you are off and running. I, personally would not want ANYONE on my team who would pull a sneaky stunt like that. It's unprofessional and small-minded to resign that way.

You will do great.. go forth and conquer!

4my2kids - You sure do have a mixed bag of challenges, don't you!

I was interested to hear about your ballot voting. I've never been involved with a group who uses them. We just call for verbal yeah and nay votes except for elections. I can see the benefits of ballot voting.

It very clear from your explanation and quotes from the resignation letters that your two officers have a personal grudge against you. It's odd that someone would use low parent involvement as a reason to quit the PTO. Isn't that just adding to the existing problem? They both found unique ways to blame you rather than take personal responsibility for their roles in the problem.

For each of the votes you mention, I think you're on the right track to see if proper procedures, according to your bylaws, were followed. If yes, I guess the vote stands. If no, then it needs to be readdressed at the next meeting.

As for the dividing of funds, I have to first say that I've never been involved with a PTO that covers more than one school. I don't know what the typical split is. It seems it would be different for every group based on local needs.

It sounds like your intentions are good and that you have the best interests of the entire community in mind. Those are important characteristics of a successful leader.

Don't apologize for taking anyone's time. We're all here to learn from each other. If someone doesn't have the time to read a long post then they can always choose to skip it.

Thanks for your opinions! I am a very strong opinionated person myself. I knew going into this meeting that I had to put my best actions forward and let go of what was happening, so I was very mellow leading this meeting. I was just going with what I thought I had on my agenda. :confused: lol But recapping the meeting and how it was carried out I know now that I need to stand firm, but they already knew themselves what was on their agenda!

The treasurer is new to this school, so this was her first time in office, her record keeping skills were awesome. I will miss that!

What kinds of votes were these? Remember you asked!

1 A vote was on copy expenses and it was verbally changed to $100 toward an ink cartridge for the school. I stated that we never know when we go into the school if they are out of ink, so I suggested that we go to the nearest, cheapest, place to make copies, only if it was needed. The vote passed to buy an ink cartridge for the school. So we are in the same boat we were in to begin with on making copies.

2 The Elementary Librarian was there to present her request and it all was changed to add the other 3 requests that the elementary principal presented for the 2 teachers that were not present and a request from her (principal). Which all totaled $1822.28. The principal did add that she could get funds from another source for her keyboard program request, so that made the amount $1022.28. And of course this vote passed. All the school needs, except the request from librarian, were to only be discussed so that we could gather details, prices and such, then presented and ballot vote at the Feb meeting. The Jr. High/HS needs were discussed as planned, and nothing was voted on. It states in our bylaws for educational purposes only by paid members. So we had homework to do before voting!

3 A vote was to set the Santa Shop budget for the 07-08 school year, but this was verbally changed to $2500.00. I did voice that we have 4 months of school left and that other needs might come up, therefore we should only consider half of that amount for now and then in May reconsider the remaining amount. We were left with low funds at the beginning of this year because of this same situation last year. They Secretary & Treasurer, (co-chairs of this event) did have their cronies there to help with that vote and it did pass.

4 A vote to do the Spring carnival is not happening because (the secretary) chairperson of this event did not want to do it.

5 A vote for the 1,242 remaining items ($380.62) leftover from this years Santa shop to go toward ________. After a discussion it was voted to go to the elementary for needed AR prizes and other rewards that the teachers/principal may have. I suggested that it could be used for next years Santa shop, carnival night, bingo night, or any other event we plan to do saving us money and volunteer time shopping!

We do use ballot votes and verbal motions.

Resignation letters were passed out from both of them to all present at the meeting. One person, the secretary, did state in her resignation letter, “I find it impossible to work under the conditions put upon me by the current president. Until the PTO bylaws are accessed, updated and adhered to, I can not serve any longer and feel that I am doing the right thing." The funny thing on this is she never really done her job in the first place. The reminder notes for meetings, (To help bring up attendance) were always forgotten. The minutes were never forwarded to me so that I could get my agenda ready, so I flew by the seat of my pants and just done them every month with help from my VP. And posting information on the website was and is always left up to me. No one wants to do it, so I take it on or it would not be done.

The other, from the treasurer, letter stated, "No one position is more important than another; there are just different job duties. As of yet, I have not seen good communication between the parents, students and school, and especially the PTO and teachers. And there is little parental involvement in the PTO." Hello, we have never had the participation level that we all want within the PTO. Especially when it covers the entire school Pre-K thru 12th Grade. That is a given in any school district, with all the school events and such going on the calendars are always full. And Excuse me, I was voted into this position!

I am currently talking to others to fill these offices, as soon as I get a "yes, I will do it” I plan on calling a special meeting. We will discuss everything I have that is questionable about the meeting, and then prepare for the next PTO meeting. I am not making those decisions myself. Yes, our bylaws require 2 signatures but that does not happen a majority of the time.

I did make statements throughout the meeting that we have to go by what is on the agenda, but as you can tell it didn't. Well over half of PTO funds went out the door in one meeting for the elementary, and it is only January! The main problem that I see is that, our PTO covers the entire school district. Some feel funds should go to elementary and others feel that it should go to the Jr. High/HS. Therefore, I am proposing that a percentage of any fundraiser event goes for both and a percentage stays in the general PTO funds. We do try to decide where the money will go when we have a fundraiser but sometimes that decision is never made.

Thank you so much for listening and giving me an outsider’s opinion. It does help!! I am sorry for taking up so much of your time. I feel that I am on the right path, this has been a rebuilding time for us and I hope that we continue building. If worse comes to worse we will split the funds in half and close the PTO. I do have a child in elementary and one in Jr. High! We will have to wait and see if we have any nominations of offices in April, because my 2 consecutive years are up!

Thanks again for your advice

Agree with Crew Chief. Would like to add that youmight want to get a condensed copy of Robert's Rules to have on hand at the meetings. I have seen a couple of copies like this that are only a page or 2 in length.

Make an announcement at the start of the meeting that the meeting will be conducted by the rules and that the chair will follow the pre-printed agenda as closely as possible.

On your officers resigning check your by-laws on how they are allowed to resign and how the resignations are to be accepted. Ours have to be in writing and accepted at a meeting (after a meeting is ajourned would not count for us).

Suggestion to send copies of by-laws to your members to read. Often times, no one knows except the officers just what is in the by-laws.

Next time this happens, take control -- of the meeting, not the subject matter. Your primary duty as chair of the meeting is to keep order. Obviously there was a power struggle occurring - lots of emotion. When this happens, as chair, you should immediately be neutral (for the time being, do not debate, do not take sides on issues, do not push your 'agenda'), instead concentrate on restoring order. Take a deep breath, quietly ask for order, and wait expectantly. If people keep talking, politely ask them to wait. Keep calmly repeating your request and soon they will all be looking at you expectantly.

Announce that, to keep order, you will run the meeting according to the *principles* of Robert's Rules as required by your bylaws. You already know the principles - you learned most of them in kindergarten. First, only one person will talk at a time. We will only discuss one item at a time. To keep order, no one will speak until the chair recognizes them. (Don't say 'I', use the neutral 'chair') Please allow an opportunity for everyone to speak who wants to speak, before you ask to speak a second time on the same item. (If necessary, you might also remind them they should only speak to the issue, no one can question the motives of any other member, nor make disparaging comments about any other member.) etc. etc.

Even though the president is often charged with preparing the agenda, and the members should allow the president to follow her agenda, neither the president nor any minority of members has the right to force an agenda. Even if the agenda is printed and prepared in advance, it is only a "guide" (except for items that are required by bylaws). Example: if you are in "new business" and you have just finished an item, any two members - one to make the motion and one to second the motion, can cause the group to discuss their particular item. The way around that, is at the beginning of the meeting, allow members to propose changes to the agenda, and then take a vote on adopting the agenda (as amended.) Once adopted for the meeting, the president follows that agenda unless the members later vote, by a two-thirds vote, to change the order or to add new business. In this way, the president is following the agenda of the members - because they have voted and agreed to it -- and therefore the chair can enforce the agenda.

Wow. I can't imagine how things got so far out of control. I know situations can snowball relatively quickly but, again, WOW! I'll try to address issues seperately. These responses are based on my own experience and opinions. Others may have different advice for you.

The Treasurer was changing all ballot votes verbally before the voting occurred.

How is it that the treasurer has this much control? Was she the presiding officer? What kinds of votes were these? My teams only use ballots for elections, not for yeah/nay votes for a motion.

2 people present were not members, which made their votes void (states in bylaws)

OK, so their votes don't count. End of subject.

2 of the officers resigned, after I adjourned the meeting.... Should the resignations be voted and accepted at the next meeting?

If your bylaws don't have guidelines for resigning, I would call a special meeting to confirm that this is their true intentions. Or, request their resignations in writing, which you accept in writing so it's officially on the record.

The Treasurer and the Secretary, which also pretty much ran the meeting with all their suggestions.

I'm sorry to be too hard on you but if these two officers ran the meeting it was because you were not in control. Maybe they have strong personalities and spoke over you but you cannot let them get the upper hand. You call the meeting back to order, take back the floor and get back on the agenda. You are the president. That means you're the leader and, therefore, you must lead.

Should this meeting be null and void?

No, it'll be up to you and your remaining board members to work through the minutes, accept was was done according to your bylaws and reject everything else. Anything that was rejected will be readdressed in your next meeting.

until the offices are filled should all business and spending of funds, of the PTO be put on hold?

No and Yes. Business should carry on with remaining officers and voting members filling in any voids. Spending should be done only according to properly approved allocations. Hopefully your bylaws require two signatures on checks. Immediately remove the resigning treasurer from the account and make sure two responsible people are appointed and that they follow sound finanacial controls.

You say you have bylaws so that's a good thing. Very good. Two years is pretty young for a group and some chaos is to be expected. I'd recommend that you keep a copy of the bylaws next to you at every meeting and whenever something questionable comes up, use them. Simply state, "Before we move forward on this issue, let me confirm that we are acting in accordance with our bylaws." Not only does that keep the control where it belongs, it helps you to develop some very important habits. And it lets your team know that you cannot be bullied, talked over, run around, etc. I'm guessing that your more serious members will appreciate having things calm down and become more professional. You can do this. Just take it one step at a time and remember to ask for help from your teammates!