Great! We are in Fayetteville too. I was told that most of the elementary schools in Cumberland Co. are PTA's and the middle and high schools are PTO's. If you would be willing to talk with me I would love to hear how you did things. I tried to email you from the link above your posting, but it wouldn't let me. Can you email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.?
Hi thinking,
I'm in Fayetteville,NC. We switched to PTO about 5 years ago. We were flying by the seat of our pants( hadn't found this site yet)when we made the switch. But #4 in Tim's last reply sounds pretty much the way we did it. PTA was pretty much non exsistant--no officers,no money, so we just did our thing. We DID get a nasty phone call from the state PTA after our PTO treasurer let them know that we were no longer PTA. But what can they really do? Not much.In fact, we still get bulletins occasionally, but they don't get a penny from us,which is exactly how we like it.
One idea to find others in your area would be to check the county school board's web page. Ours has links to each school and most schools have PTA/PTO news on their page.You might have links to the actual board members or you may have to email the web master for the school and ask to have it passed on.
Good luck to you. If you have any questions, feel free to email me.
Wondering,
I am also in NC and we are looking at going from a PTA to a PTO. If you could give us any guidance of how you dealt with the state office I would love to hear it.
Well, this is a year later, and we made the leap. We notified the state PTA, according to our bylaws, and never heard a word in return. Our vote passed overwhelmingly. So, thanks to all for your words of encouragement
I am in NC. What part of the Peidmont? We have always been a PTO as far as I was told that the mandatory dues for PTA were an issue with some of our famlies so PTO was the choice for our school.
Let me know if you need anything. My job is up for grabs this Thursday (Election) but if it is like past years I will hold a second term....because I haven't mastered the word NO yet!
1. I agree with Amy Green. Step 1 is to make sure that the speaking thing is truly a requirement (it says exactly that in your bylaws) and not a tradition or something you're being told. The bylaws rule. If it's not very specific, then fuhgeddaboutit.
2. I think these speaking visits (when actually required) are the number one cause of disruption. Your police story is a prime example. Drives me nuts. While I have no problem honoring the bylaws -- if they're very specific on this -- my cooperation would cease immediately the moment things got personal or even confrontational at all. Your group is full of adults and you're doing nothing wrong.
3. Related to #2, if you do have the speaker in, you're absolutely within your rights to set the ground rules, just as you can do with any other agenda item. You can have a time limit for the speaker; you (or whoever is presiding) controls who gets to ask questions (if questions are allowed at all); you can have a time limit on debate; you can choose to have the vote the same night or at a later meeting; etc. The visitor is just that, a visitor. Keep control. It's your group.
4. I'm not a lawyer, but I suspect the clause is likely unenforceable. Meaning: if you did decide to disband without inviting the speaker (run funds to near zero, announcement within your school, discussion, vote, disbandment, letter to state, no more meetings, no more money), I don't think there's anything that could be done. PTA might say something like: "Well to us, your PTA still exists because you didn't disband correctly", but so what. They'd be talking about a group with no members, no officers, no meetings and no assets. Trust me, after a year or two of that -- and more importantly no dues checks -- they'd "accept" your disbandment one way or the other.
