Our school has the same dilema. What we wanted to do was have a chairperson led board as opposed to an executive committee (i.e. pres,vp,sec,treas). Do you know if that can be done? We have great Committee chairs that would be willing to sit on a board but no one wants to take on the Pres/VP titles. In place of a Treasurer we would have a Finance Committee. We are in Ohio. Is this something we can do and how does in affect our non-profit status?
Thanks for the help. It looks like there will be a few members left; however, nobody wants to be on the board - no time or energy with everything else they do. We are still trying to figure this out and I know it will work out just fine. Thanks again!
Originally posted by kjanczak: I know this is 2 months after the post, but if you see this message please reply. Our PTO is about to collapse due to most membership leaving the school. I would like to know what you have decided to do... dissolve, go inactive, or nothing. If you are dissolving or going inactive with your PTO, how are you doing this? Our by-laws mention nothing about it. Any help would be appreciated.
I am sorry to hear you are in the same position I was in May. I am happy to say two people came forward the second to last week of school and were voted in as our president and v.p.
Since you're by-laws are unclear, you have the freedom to choose what you feel is best to do. You can define what "inactive" is or look into dissolving.You also need to state what needs done to get going again and what happens to the money in your bank account. When the school year begins you can try to have one meeting to see if anyone will volunteer, if not maybe vote on adding to your by-laws what happens if you go "inactive" or dissolve. I would at least try to hold one last meeting after school begins to see if anyone will come forward and volunteer for the open positions.
Lastly, have there been notes sent home regarding the state of the PTO and what the students will miss outon if there isn't a PTO? It was suggested to me to have the principal send a note home also. Make some calls to people you know to be concerned and involved in the PTO. Offer to be available to help them this year if they take leadership positions.Some people will do it if you ask and they know someone will be there to help them.
Maybe you could send out a letter (or better yet, make phone calls) to parent members explaining that no one has volunteered for the key positions and ask them if they think that a)you should dissolve for a while or if b)they would like to 'run' for office.
It's possible there is someone out there who might be interested, but doesn't feel 'qualified', and for that you might explain how the outgoing pres/vp would mentor them (if you think that's possible). Our former pres stays on as 'past pres' to help the new pres figure out how to do things, which is much less intimidating. She attends all meetings, all planning meetings and is on-call for any questions the new pres has as the year progresses.
In our organization this year NO ONE ran unopposed, and actually it wasn't until the week of elections that we even had one person per office interested, so your situation doesn't seem unusual to me.
Lastly, I hope you make it through this process looking for a win-win end. I imagine you're disappointed and maybe even slightly angry that no one is stepping up to the plate, and that's understandable. But keep the end in mind--you want to have a successful PTO next year, for everyone's benefit. Strong-arming someone into the leadership roles is probably not as helpful as making a good case for why you need the PTO and cultivating someone who will do a good job.
I know this is 2 months after the post, but if you see this message please reply. Our PTO is about to collapse due to most membership leaving the school. I would like to know what you have decided to do... dissolve, go inactive, or nothing. If you are dissolving or going inactive with your PTO, how are you doing this? Our by-laws mention nothing about it. Any help would be appreciated.
It may be that people do not believe that no one will step up to do these jobs. You may have to hit rock bottom in order for folks to get involved and step up to the plate.
Going inactive would certainly be the best idea in t he event people do come forward. You will just need to figure out how to do that properly.
I think that beyond your letter to the parents, the principal should also send a letter to the parents. Maybe the principal could call for a meeting for parents to attend to make it clear what the children will be missing without a parent organization and to try to drum up some volunteers.
