Bertha,
When we switched, our by-laws only required that we notify the state PTA by registered mail. We were not obligated to allow them "the floor" to speak or address the meeting. We followed bylaws and notified the state but no one showed up from state or county PTA. In talking to a county person later, he was a little upset that state didn't notify them.
We've been PTO for almost a year and no one has yet to contact us.
Check your bylaws, you may not be obligated to have them speak. You could possibly make the ruling upfront that only current members of your school's PTA be allowed to speak as they are the only ones that could vote.
Tim or anyone,
When you go about switching, you need to have a Rep. from the county PTA to come to your meeting. My question is how do you go about bypassing that step?
Our county Pres. lives in our town and when she went into one of the other schools(this time last year) she caused a huge fight that the police had to be called in.
We are thinking of switching over but don't want the trouble that seems to go along with it, any ideas?
I am in Durham County and we switched from PTA to PTO last year. I also think that the high school in Person County is PTO. I have also been approached by my daughters middle school about helping them switch to PTO.
Amy
Fair enough. I'm glad that you're findingt he site helpful.
Couple of tricks on finding a local group that's been through what you're thinking about:
1. Getting a name of a local group. Guessing that state office won't give you that list and also guessing you don't want to call and ask.
2. Even if you find a group that made the switch, you really need to find a group that made the switch recently. Else, the leaders who experienced the switch up close and personal will be gone. The current leaders may have no insight -- except of course they could likely tell you about all the good things they do even as a (egads!) PTO.
Hi Tim,
Thanks for your interest. I've read lots of the info on this website, so I guess I wanted to talk to someone locally to see how confrontational the NC state PTA would be if we end up converting. There are no PTO's in our school system, so I feel a little bit like a trailblazer at this time. I also wanted to talk with someone face to face about the whole process, if that was possible.
I'm wondering if the local angle is really so key? In my experience, the PTA to PTO process (and vice versa) is not all that state-specific. A lot of folks in your shoes have used the experience of others on this forum -- even others from many states away -- to great effect. Hope it helps you, too.
I guess what I'm wondering is what questions you have for your local PTOers. I bet you can find some help on those questions here, even from us non-TarHeels.
