kmamom would be the best one to answer your question, because they have a PTA at their school and they organized an Volunteer organization to fundraise outside of PTA. She has been through this situation and as a County/council PTA person (a bit too progressive for both sides of the argument though) think that having both is a great thing.
Kim, Your PTA sounds a lot like our old PTA group. They're not really opened to new things.
About 2 years ago someone came into one of our PTA meetings and suggested we look into switching over to a PTO(our school was in need of things that are against PTA rules for us to buy, etc.)When she mentioned this I was ready for the sh*t to hit the fan, but this women was so prepared. She came in with copies of PTA vs. PTO and brought up a lot of good points, she really did her research. She had most of us wanting to switch.But there were a few hold outs.
When the old group left and our new group was in place and ready to make the switch, a school on the other side of town was in the process of making the switch. Well, long story short, county came into to one of their meeting and fists and chairs were being thrown around the room, cops were called in(not a pretty sight!!)They made the switch fast after that night!
This made our group hold off for a while and now this is going to be one of the first items on our agenda for this new year. We too have had some bad dealings with county and we just want out.
If I were you, I'd start out with a few mothers see how they feel. Get them to go with you to a meeting with information in hand and bring it up, you never know what will happen.If you make a strong enough case how could they say no? If they do say no, don't give up what you strongly feel is the right thing for your school.Keep talking to people and see if they are willing to also mention it at a meeting. Good Luck!
I would highly recommend joining the NPN. The materials are clear and concise, and you can easily recoup the cost of a one year membership in the savings you will get in your insurance premiums.
Hi! I know you said you have support from the Super, but do you have support from the principal too? While you are your own organization, you will need approval from the Super in order to run your PTO out of their school. If the principal is not on your side, you may need to get the Super to get him on your side or at the very least tolerate your existence.
As for rounding up parents. Start with the ones you already know want a PTO. When School starts you can send home a flyer explaining what your PTO is forming for and urge people to come to a meeting. If you have a local paper you can also get them to run information for you. Also just word of mouth will help you.
There is a poster here "Kmamom" if you can track her down she may be able to give you a lot of help. She is in a similar situation, by which she started a seperate group in her school and faced all kinds of opposition as well.
Thank you for the link. The amount of information is wonderful!
Now, for one more question. How do I go about soliciting (for lack of a better term) parents who would support the formation of a PTO? While I know there are parents who would like one, I have no idea how to spread the word.
Would a meeting with the Supt. be a a starting point?
