Unfortunatly our PTO has adopted the policy of staying neutral in all political matters and I think that this situation would fall into that category. What I have done in the past, to work as a tool of information, is to invite both sides pro and con to voice their opinions at a meeting.
For example, I would never in the capacity of being PTO President let people think that I was speaking for our group on a political issue. That would send the message that our membership was 100% behind or aganist an issue and that is never the case.
Your best bet would be to go to the meeting address the issue and ask that for parents that are interested in supporting you to contact you outside of the PTO itself. You may find some parents who totally support what you are trying to accomplish, but you may find that some think the issue of recess is not something they feel is necessary. You will at least be hearing diversified reasons and it will give you a feel as to where people stand.
I agree that you PTO President could have been a bit more pleasant. I do not like to be put in the position of backing one group over another because when it is all said and done we will all have to work together again...
Does your PTO have a charter or by laws? What does it say the purpose of your PTO is?
Without knowing the answer to the above no one can say if your president is acting properly or not. I would not blame him until you have read this for yourself and the language says this is an issue that the PTO was formed to be involved in.
Now speaking in general terms. Most PTO/PTAs are formed "... to promote the welfare of children and youth in home, school and community ..."
Taking this language into account, then the issue you presented is indeed an issue the PTO can and should be involved in. The refusal of the President to do so, would be a violation of the very by laws they are sworn and empowered to enforce. You are within your rights to present this issue to the PTO board.
Now your petition, 1200 signatures is a pretty powerful group, are they all PTO members? If not why not? (yes I believe in constant recruiting)
You may need to represent the parents on this issue yourself before the board of education. When is their next meeting? Do you know how to get put on the agenda?
Before going to this length - have you asked for a meeting with the Principal to understand the reasoning behind the decission?
It's unfortunate that you had a negative experience, and it sounds like your PTO president could have been more helpful. My question would be to wonder if the President truly spoke for the Board - and I'd still consider taking my request to the meeting.
That's not to say this IS within the scope of the PTO to support, but you probably want to raise the issue in as many forums as possible.
What is the role of the PTO? It is an independent organization dedicated for whatever is specified as it's founding purpose in its bylaws. Generally that's to help the school and students somehow. But I tend to think of PTO's mostly a service group, and rarely an advocacy group. (Note PTA's may have more of a role as an advocate/lobbyist.)
Typically a PTO does not get involved in school or district policy issues (or "decisions" if you prefer that term).
Wrong or right, your school made the decision to reduce recess for some reason. Is it something like Math scores are down on the required statewide testing and they feel this was a necessary sacrifice to add more classroom time? In such a case, you probably have parents who support that decision.
The PTO's membership is generally composed of all school families. Since it's unlikely 100% of any group would agree with a single side of an argument, how would they pick which "side" to support? It's generally best for them to remain neutral.
Should they help negotiate this situation? In my opinion, probably not. However, as a concerned parent group, should they listen to you and allow you time on the agenda - yes (and also time for the school to respond). Again, just my opinion.
Recently a group of parents in our community joined together to petition and fight for recess in elementary schools locally, and will be carrying our cause to the state level in the near future.
This year our local elementary school dropped recess to 2 ten minute breaks per week. We were informed by our Administrators in ISD that because Texas has no mandated recess policy (never has) that they leave it up to the individual schools...usually the decisions are made through the schools site based committees. We approached them and will be addressing their board today.
We also called our PTO president and was informed (in a rude and defensive manner) that this "is an ISD policy, and that PTO has nothing to do with it!"... When we corrected her in that the issue is NOT a policy, but a decision made through the school's advisory board and principal...AND that we have over 1,200 signatures on a petition of local parents, grandparents and concerned friends asking for daily recess to be reinstated at the school that we felt it is the roll of our PTO to make our position known and help us negotiate with the school principal and committee. Our presidents reply was simply: "You can bring your petition and data to our next board meeting, BUT, you'll be wasting your time!".
So if the PTO doesn’t represent us, who does? And what exactly is their role?
