I have been told repeatedly that our principal has no control over matters in our group but must approve our events and may request us to disband if we cannot solve our own issues.
When you think about it, I don't want our principal hand-picking his favorite people to be board members and I honestly think that is what would happen, in our situation, if our principal had more control.
Do I wish he would help solve some issues with parents acting like children or stop parents who come into the school for the purpose of gossiping and causing trouble? Of course I do. But since I am not his favorite person, I don't want to lose out on the position I have worked really hard to earn so I make the best of it.
The irony of commitment is that it’s deeply liberating-in work, in play, in love. The act frees you from the tyranny of your internal critic, from the fear that likes to dress itself up and parade around as rational hesitation. To commit is to remove your head as the barrier to your life. --Anne Morris
our principal wont talk about ANY pto matters with parents...we are on our own literally....he goes to all meetings and must approve all activities of the PTO held on schhool grounds, yet will NOT address matters that the parents want to address, if it is about ANY PTO issue...he just washes his hands of PTO affairs in order to stay out of difficult spots. whats a parent to do when the principal refuses to mediate PTO matters.....
We always go in with an agenda. Even being new to a school does not give anyone the right to be rude. We are not trying to take over the school, get the principal removed, or anything of the sort. We stick to the organization's business and that is it. I have spoken with some parents at the school the principal's from. The same thing was going on over there. I have even talked with the parent organization's president there and basically the same thing. I keep telling myself school is almost over. If I can hang on for these last few months I'm home free.
I guess I feel that part of being a principal is making it your job to know what's going on.
I have worked with amazing principals that make this a priority, knowing everyone and everything.
I have worked with one who doesn't understand the concept but prefers to sit in an office and go to meetings and doesn't really understand how to make it all come together. Of course, this is also the person that won't tell you if they don't know what's going on either.
The irony of commitment is that it’s deeply liberating-in work, in play, in love. The act frees you from the tyranny of your internal critic, from the fear that likes to dress itself up and parade around as rational hesitation. To commit is to remove your head as the barrier to your life. --Anne Morris
It's funny just tonight my Principal and I had a heart to heart (he's new this year) about parent involvement and how he truly feels about it. He always tells me that if he doesn't know there is a problem or concern then how can he help make it better...words to think about!
"When you stop learning you stop growing."
I agree with principal. We, also started our year off with a new principal to our school. And we felt he was not "caring" about Pto but I did set up a meeting with him to voice some concerns of my own and some of other parents. And to my surprise. He was very receptive to all of our concerns. It was not that he did not care, it was just that he did not know us. Or how our Pto ran things as opposed to how his old school ran things. So, after our meeting I could really tell a difference in how he was at the meetings. It really did help!
