I would suggest to surround yourself with some friends and people that will support you, that you can trust, and that will help you have success.
Being the president is a lot of work, but it really should be fun. Fun for you, your board, the parent volunteers, the kids and families. Have you tried to invite your board out for coffee and dessert and work out the issues. Get them in your corner and I'll bet everything will turn around for you. Good luck!

Hi!!! Unfortunately, that is how most small towns are. Don't like outsiders. I would suggest you meet with the officers & principal only. Tell them how you feel & that you all need to work as a team ( there's no I in team) As a pto member/officer you don't need to be at school everyday. Do you have by-laws? Have an agenda at the meeting & call your board to see if there is anything to be added. If they don't respond then tell them that you'll add what they all of a sudden wanted to bring up on the agenda for the next meeting & tell them to return your calls so that this won't happen again. Tell your officers what you expect out of them & what to expect out of you. By-laws & agendas are a must. Good luck. If you need a copy of my by-laws email me: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

i achieved the PTO presidency by default-the outgong president refused to let one member assume the presidency, and i was the only one left. now, i know why.
i have lived in this area for 10 years, but my this is my youngest child's second year in this school. i am an outsider, a "transplant"; this town is so small, there are no stop lights, and there is ONE police car.
there are four PTO members, three officers and the aforementioned member who was refused the presidency. she talks about me behind my back, making up stories about how she came to the rescue because i was too stupid or lazy to do XYZ.
she is a room parent in my son's room. he has some special needs, and she took it upon herself to "fix" him, and expected me to praise her for doing so. well..we had a talk with the principal and straightened that out.
anyone who has been in her vicinity for any period of time catches on pretty quickly. however, i am still the "transplant" and even more suspect than her typical activities.
the other three, the officers, play a game of obstructive omissions; don't respond to emails or phone calls, expect me to become aware of events or situations with my crystal ball, and then blame me when i don't address the issue immediately. if they had the common courtesy to say something to me, i would have done something. but they would rather not let me know, and have a program for the kids fail.
when i assumed the position, i tried to tell them that i had never done this before, i would need help and that i had a VERY full plate and could not be at school every second of every day. (i work, i have a special needs child, my husband has a couple of serious health issues, my parents are very elderly and need almost as much attention as my son). perhaps i did not make this as clear as i should have, i don't know.
i just feel like these people have tiny minds as fits a tiny town and have closed me out simply because i did not arrange for my great grandparents to be born in this town. bad judgement on my part, i know! [img]tongue.gif[/img]
i have called an emergency meeting as soon as school resumes. i am yet undecided if i am just going to walk away from this or try and make it into a team effort.
right now, i am really disgusted with the whole group, but on the other hand, i don't want them to "win", if you will.
any words of wisdom???