TeresaU,

You're absolutely right about not being too anal about things. Since people are not being paid, it's much harder to enforce certain rules and policies. In doing so, you may just find that you have no volunteers to do the work at all. Of course, there is always the option of amending by-laws, which should be done whenever the group finds that they are hindering the ability of the group to function.

However, I inferred, perhaps incorrectly, that the group to which <confused> refers is ignoring the by-laws as a means of hand-picking people (possibly to the exclusion of others who might want to be involved) and of retaining a sort of power over things that goes beyond just trying to be able to get things done. I have heard of the occasional parent group that gets entrenched and ignores the rules to insure that no one can wrench the power away from them.

If that's the case, then it becomes time for someone to do something about it.

TeresaU,

You're absolutely right about not being too anal about things. Since people are not being paid, it's much harder to enforce certain rules and policies. In doing so, you may just find that you have no volunteers to do the work at all. Of course, there is always the option of amending by-laws, which should be done whenever the group finds that they are hindering the ability of the group to function.

However, I inferred, perhaps incorrectly, that the group to which <confused> refers is ignoring the by-laws as a means of hand-picking people (possibly to the exclusion of others who might want to be involved) and of retaining a sort of power over things that goes beyond just trying to be able to get things done. I have heard of the occasional parent group that gets entrenched and ignores the rules to insure that no one can wrench the power away from them.

If that's the case, then it becomes time for someone to do something about it.

We are lucky to get all 4 board members and the principal at a meeting. I am a new pres this year, only because nobody else wanted it, I went to the nominating meeting and the elections with all intentions of becoming the treasurer. At the elections there were 5 people, they said do you want to be pres I said ok, they voted and here I am. Our bylaws also say that as the pres I am not supposed to chair any committees, but I chair 7 of them, again lack of parent involvment. I am also a member of Westerly Parent Advisory Council, and the SITE council(school improvment team). There are times when you just cannot be so anal about the "by laws". If I wasn't the chair on those 7 committees we would not have all the activities we do for the school and students. So just go with the flow and do what it takes to get things done, it is for the kids after all, not a global corporation.

Dear <confused>,

In thinking about your question, you brought me to an important question of my own. To whom does one report a PTO that is in violation of the by-laws? I know the chain of command for PTA from having attended many conferences where such issues are addressed, but because PTOs are individual groups, I wonder if there is any official channel for making a complaint without going so far as to risk having the group disbanded.

If you are friendly with the Board members, then you may be effective in dealing with these issues unofficially, by, perhaps, using just a little subterfuge (such as asking "Oh, I thought we would need to amend the bylaws before adding more Board members," etc.)or even bringing up your concerns to a Board member with whom you are friendly and whom you trust.) If all such efforts fail, however, then you are stuck with either A) Ignoring the violations or Reporting the violations to the principal or higher, e.g. the IRS, which can revoke the 501c3 status if the bylaws are ignored. Only you can decide how important these issues are and how far you are willing to go to see that the organization works as it should.

JHB and PM - I see no "problem" with adding more at-large board members, but I've gone thru the bylaws with a fine tooth comb- no loopholes that allows board members to vote in more board positions. I believe the only proper way to add more at-large members is TO amend the bylaws, but the bylaws are not reviewed until May of each year and they are not wanting to make any exceptions. That was made clear to me. I understand them not wanting to amend the bylaws very often, but the way the bylaws are written, they COULD amend the bylaws at other necessary times besides May.

Unfortunately, somewhat of a "that's the way we've always done it attitude."

The bylaws are just the rules that your organization agrees to abide by.

If your group is feeling the need to change those rules, I would just respectfully ask that a motion be made that the by-laws be changed to add the additional at-large members and then let them vote on it. Then they can vote on the members or whatever.

The bylaws add continuity to a group that has an ever changing membership and leadership. Changing the leadership structure is something that should be documented for the future, but it easily changable.