Originally posted by Bertha:

When the other PTA had their meeting to switch, the goon squad came in demanded they stay PTA and all hell broke loose. They were not there to talk but they were there to bully and abuse. That's when the cops were called in and the ambulances.It was ugly and bloody.
..snip..

My only problem would be that the general members don't want to sit there and listen to the goon squad, and the ladies from the other side of town want to come to the meeting because they're not done with the goon squad just yet! Being Irish, I'm always up for a good fight.

What you went through sounds terrible. I have to say I would be very surprised if any of our meetings turned that ugly. I can't imagine the impact a type of thing like that would have on our school. I'd also hardly describe our District and Council representatives as "goons". Our membership seems to realize that everyone is just trying to do what's best for kids in their own way and what we're doing now is looking for the best fit in organizational structure. Good luck to you. Maybe it's the Irish in me, but I usually find that diplomacy and a healthy sense of humor makes things go more smoothly (an appreciation for fine crystal is also an Irish trait, but unfortunately it's useless in this situation [img]smile.gif[/img] .

Ann

It was really messy. Fists & chairs were flying. There were a couple of broken noses, broken bones, cracked heads and one cop down for the count. About 5 people wound up in the hospital and about another 5 were arrested. Charges were eventually drop.

The Superintendent got involved the next morning and basically told the parents that if they stayed PTA he would not allow them in the building after what the county goon squad did. He was too late with his speech, because after the fight when everyone calmed down, they voted to become PTO.

Before we do anything I promised the Superintendent that I would give him notice so he would be there as well as the police.Who needs soap operas when you can come to our town instead! This is where all the action is.

ambulances?????

I've got to hear more on that. Here or in a private email. Either way. But please do tell....

Tim

PS -- This is a great example of what i've been talking about. If membership is in the know and are all supportive of the switch, make the switch without inviting the non-members in. Whe you stop selling PTA memberships for them and stop forwarding dues, you'll be out right quick.

Lori- you have no idea of what our PTA has gone through! It's not our executive board that wants to change, it's our ENTIRE membership. Our county officers are nothing but a bunch of bullies! They don't want to hear that you want to switch. If they know you're thinking of switching they send out the goon squad.

When the other PTA had their meeting to switch, the goon squad came in demanded they stay PTA and all hell broke loose. They were not there to talk but they were there to bully and abuse. That's when the cops were called in and the ambulances.It was ugly and bloody.

Two of those cops have kids in our school and have told me that when the times comes for our meeting to let them know in advance because they WILL be there to protect us NOT the county people.

This year we decided to do things our way and let me tell you thats the best decision we ever made(with our memberships blessing). Our membership is at an all time high(97%) we've had more programs than ever before. All of our programs are sold out with a waiting list! We have more volunteers than we know what to do with. The one and only thing that can top this year off would be to switch over to PTO.

My only problem would be that the general members don't want to sit there and listen to the goon squad, and the ladies from the other side of town want to come to the meeting because they're not done with the goon squad just yet! Being Irish, I'm always up for a good fight.

Originally posted by San Juan Council:

Those of us on Council boards and PTA district boards have the right to speak in favor of PTA.

A right? It's their group. I agree that it should be a decision made by membership and not just by leadership, but your stance assumes that membership can't possibly make an eyes-open, informed decision without you. That's where i disagree.

The "rights" here favor the local. It's their right to have you in if they desire. It's equally their right to not have you in if they'd rather forego that.

Tim

Originally posted by San Juan Council:
Hi Tim,

You are incorrect to state that National and State PTA do not have a mailing list of its members. They do!

I can't speak for every state, but if you asked national pta to send a mailing to all its 5.8 million members today, the national pta could not do that. I'd wager that they could mail to fewer than 1 million of those members. There's currently a pilot program ongoning in 9 states to get a comprehensive dtatabase together, but this is a just-starting process.

Pretty sure same is true for most state PTAs. There's a big difference between collecting a roster from each local and having that roster in a master database that allows mailing/tracking/communicating.

And it's funny that only the disband decision requires this mailing. National PTA's bylaws don't require communicating with every member for *any* decisions. Locals can change bylaws, change dues, change anything... all without this nonsensical mailing requirement, but the mailing requirement just happens to come up in the disbanding process. I honestly believe that this (unenforceable) rule/advice/bylaw came into being solely for the purpose of putting another perceived roadblock in the way of disbanding groups.

I have no doubt, Lori and Michelle, that you guys believe it's there for the best of reasons. I don't doubt your sincerity on it. But I have a lot of doubt about that particular rule's original motivation.

Tim