Our Board was formed by a member who had an axe to grind. Control was a real issue and I am wondering if this is the reason our Principal has no voting rights. This member (President for 2 years) didn't even place our Principal on the Agenda. Our Principal at the Elementary school has voting rights, our Principal at the Middle School does not. The admin folks are always placed on the Agenda at the Elementary school but never at the Middle School. The agenda I can change, I would have to canvas folks regarding the Bylaws and whether or not the Principal should have a vote on issues presented to the Board.

Are you talking about being a non-voting member of the Board or of the PTO?

Our principal is a voting member of the Executive Board as is our Vice Principal. Like Chrystal, we often use the Principal as the second signature on checks.

Frankly the voting thing isn't an issue for us as virtually all our votes are unanimous. Things are pretty well thought out or compromises made before we get to the voting stage. However, I have noticed that when we do have a discussion with opposing positions, sometimes the Principal and Vice Principal don't join in if they think it's an area where they should stay neutral. (But that's purely their call. As members they have the right to be part of any discussion.) It's really more an example of what great partners they are and how they try to assist without taking over.

I should probably add, we have a large Board (20-30 members) as this is the group that conducts all business. We only hold general meetings twice a year, once to approve the budget, and once for elections. So even though we have 4 school reps (Principal, Vice Principal, + 2 teacher reps), they aren't an overly large percentage of the Board membership.

[ 06-17-2002: Message edited by: JHB ]</p>

Like any good ex-prez (lol), let me break this tie...lol... Just kidding. Here, however, is my take on the subject.

It is a very fine line we all walk regarding our Principals. The truth of the matter is that it depends on 1) Your bylaws 2) Your membership 3) The Principal themselves and the relationship your board and/or membership has with the principal 4)Whether or not your principal is acting as a principal or as a parent with a child in your school, or both. Remember, each school, each principal, each board is different. What clearly works for Chrystal, obviously does not work for Lacrossmom. At our school, our principal operates both ways... she is the parent of one of our about to be third graders, and like any other concerned parent, has a right to a view, and a vote, just like any other parent. She has requests on behalf of her position as principal, and on those issues, she doesn't vote. Not because she can't, won't, should or shouldn't, but she knows she too has to walk a fine line and holds herself to a higher calling if you will (calling, for lack of a better or more appropriate word). Would our membership go in for her as a signature on our account? No. She has a vested interest in most of the financial outcomes. She also has her own budget, albeit, the school budget.

Can you exclude the principal from being a PTO board member and still have a good PTO relationship with him/her? Yes, but it may take some work. My thought here is that the principal probably shouldn't be on the board, mainly because, as we all know, your membership has more power than the exec board (in most cases). I would think they would have more power by operating as a member of the PTO body, than as what COULD be considered a conflict of interest by being on the board. Again, that is my personal opinion.

I will say this: My relationship with our principal is such that we discuss everything anyway, asking for each other's opinion as friends before even before something becomes a consideration for PTO. If we both thought something was a good idea, we explored it further as Principal and President, both falling into our respective roles. Most of the time, we both agreed on items and backed each other at the meetings. My most hated job in PTO? Disagreeing with the principal...lol... Just kidding. We both knew our jobs, and we did them correctly, although not always in agreement.

Good Luck

if you are a PTO how can your pricipal not be a member and if your principal is a member then they have the right to a vote. as far as the money is concered it is up to you and your bylaws who has the power to sign a check.

Our school district does not allow district administrators to sign checks from either a PTO or PTA. Our parents would go nuts! Our principal is strictly an advisor, and has absolutely no say in financial matters, except to request money for a program or teacher. How does your district get around the liability issue? Maybe we have too many attorneys on our PTO board!

Our Principal is considered an Executive Board Member. He is on the checking account because it is often easier to get the second signature on our checks from him. Also if we are having an Executive Board vote on anything and it happens to be an tie we let him be the tie breaker. All in all it helps to have him involved in an official capacity.