Here's a suggestion...everybody pull up their big girl panties and tell this VP that she's WRONG (I say that in the most loving way). Focusing only on money will quickly send your group into a position of irrelevance. The whole POINT of a PTO is to create an atmosphere where parents talents and teachers talents can come together and enhance the overall education experience of our children. ESPECIALLY in elementary school where they're learning to either like school or dislike the whole environment.
Having great programs for the children is what the PTO is all about, contributing where resources are scarce in people, energy and money is what the PTO is all about, getting folks involved in their child's education is .... well you know.
NOTHING will turn off a group of parents faster than a PTO that portrays itself as the personal change purse of the administration (and that includes the teachers and administration). You have to establish a relative level of respect within the two groups so that they know they can come to you, they know you have the children's best interests in mind but they also know that you have control of the assets as a separate entity. Otherwise you'll be back here in January saying you have low participation, your principal runs the group and no one wants to help.
Good luck and you know we love ya....but one spoiled child really can ruin it for the whole playground.
Every time I see a post similar to this where one person seems to be controlling everything, the first thing that comes to mind is: Doesn't the membership as a whole get to vote on what the group does? Believe me I've seen my share of folks who have some real control issues, but it ultimately comes down to the membership standing up and saying, "We see where you're coming from, but here is what the majority wants." Okay, she friends with the people "who run the school", but the only reason the school exists is because there are parents who are paying tuition, so don't you think it's in their best interest to keep those parents happy? It's time for the rest of your membership to stand up and be heard.
First thing to do is get some by-laws into place-- there are posts on here to go to and you can download by-laws to start from from the file exchange and then add on to them to fit your school... We always carry over 5,000.00 for start-up funds for the following year-- Putting something in your by-laws about a carryover amount- whatever it is...
Maybe you can start the next meeting with getting parents to sign-up onto a by-law committee, that way they have a say in what should be put into the by-laws--
Ours are constantly being looked at and updated. You can check ours out at www.foxpto.com- when you click on the by-laws-- they come up and a print button appears- so you can download them to look at.
Good luck-- PTO is a good thing-- and it does not have to be all amount raising money-- come up with some free events to promote community involvement and school family.
our PTO is new, but not our school or the fundraisers they have done in the past. we have no rules or bylaws (as of yet), so we're still trying to figure out how we should do things.
The problem is that the VP is all about $. She has the mind set that the PTO is solely about raising $ for the school. She disagrees anytime anything that does not produce $ for the school is suggested or she tries to turn everything into a profit maker. She also thinks that all funds should be blindly handed over to the school, leaving no operating $ for the PTO - she thinks the PTO can depend on donations to function. The parents at our school (small, private, no state aid) pay enough in tuition & other school related expenses without continually being asked to give $ - especially when there is no clear goals or restults for the funds. Does any one have any suggestions on how to handle this? Our VP is overpowering everyone, she's making members upset & they're quiting because of her. We feel like we're stuck though because she's friends with the family who runs the school - she made it clear that she wanted VP, so no one else ran against her (we have very few members). Members have already stated if things don't change at the next meeting (as in moving towards creating a community & moving away from being all about $) then they are going to quit & the PTO will fall apart. Our school needs this PTO to help create a sense of connection with the families, but we fear the PTO appears to be a $ making machine for the school.
