We just did our bylaws and this is also stated that you must have a current enrolled child in the school or an incoming for when you move to the next school.

I would stay involved as best you can till she runs out of cousins. LOL

Our bylaws clearly state that a parent or guardian must have a child enrolled in the school to be a board member. I think it is ridiculous to include 2nd cousins. Sounds like they want to lock everyone out and only include who they want. They need to remember that they are just volunteers and are not getting paid for this!

Thanx luvmykids for the words of encouragement, I do volunteer to help any of the teachers that need help especially my kids' teachers. I have been on the SIC (School Improvement Council) in past years at both the elementary & middle school, trying to stay involved as much as I can with my 7th grader too . I will keep hanging in there, your words of encouragement are what I needed!! Thanx again!

I feel for you. You seem to want to be a really active and involved member of the group, but have found yourself in a nearly impossible situation.

Sounds like the bylaw changes are being done to insure that the current board can continue to remain in place. Parent without a child-so we change them to include relatives as members(I mean a 2nd cousin, come on!). When the group is "getting a lot accomplished" it makes it harder to find people who are willing to stir the pot to get changes made.

Surely at least some of these people will move on and leave offices open for others at some point(they can't ALL have 2nd cousins coming in), so don't give up hope. Keep being involved however you can, even if it's in an appointed position. If you hang around long enough you may at least get accepted enough to get your ideas heard and eventually get your opportunity to move into an elected position.

I will tell you that you don't have to be a board member to make a difference in your child's school. Volunteer efforts in the classroom, helping teachers out with projects, volunteering at events, and many other "low profile" opportunties are of great benefit to the school and the parent group. Why do you think they look so good? A lot of it may be because of the fantastic pool of volunteers they have managed to assemble to run all their programs and events!

Our VP is running for Pres. this coming year 07-08, she will not have a child in our school but will have a 2nd cousin(?) coming into K4. Our by-laws were voted on last year to include "relatives of a child" but was sent out to all parents not just members. Not sure if it was ever re-voted on just by members, can't get a straight answer (my postition on PTO Board is appointed, therefore I am left out of the loop on alot of things, Board is VERY cliquesh). The VP is a subsitute teacher/clerk/secretary that is always working at the school, 7:30-3:00 everyday and minds everyone else's business. She has been on the PTO Board for 6 years now. Our Officers just switch positions never wanting newbies to have any responsibilty, I thought if I got my foot in the door I could help change things but just like several before me (for the last 3 years, they could only take it for the 1 year), I too am ready to hang it up. Now they want to vote on another by-law change stating that a member must hold an elected office for at least 1 year before they can run for President. Part of which I agree on but the other part is HOW is anyone new supposed to get elected if they continue to just switch positions and are sure to be re-elected? By the way, our Principal thinks the sun rises and sets on this group and to their credit along with parent volunteers, they have gotten alot accomplished at our school. I'm sorry this was so long, guess I needed to vent Thanks in advance for any help...