This is such a touchy subject. We are a private school and we just allocated $25,000 to new textbooks, which I think is a great cause. On the other hand, the headmaster asked for and received $5,000 to help fund a new athletic director (aka a P.E. teacher). The school board/finance committee thinks our Parents' Club should help fund any budget shortfalls but our parents are used to the mindset of paying for "touchable" things like new computers, etc.
We are trying to have all teachers direct their requests to the headmaster rather than coming directly to the parents' Club. This way, he can prioritize.
I have been thinking about it alot. I like the fact that the headmaster can prioritize but I don't like the fact that he may use the money to plug the budget rather than buy the "extras".
Went to a leadership coffee this morning? And of course, the parents who volunteer on a weekly basis,are upset about what our school is asking the the PTO to fund.
The first fundraiser is designated to geometric carpets so that each child has a specific place to seat. This will cost us just under $20,000. They voted to build a lost and found box at a cost of $250.00. Of course these are principal generated requests.
As one of the past vice presidents of a newly redone PTO, the parent liason looked at me and said isn't that what PTOs do. Raise Funds
and spend money. I explained that my views were the PTO not only should raise funds but do service projects also. I had resigned my position due to the principal wanting most of the money for his pet projects.
I need ideas from here to hand to her so she can see where others spend their money maybe she can get through to the principal that he is losing parents who would otherwise do some awesome things for his school if they felt some of their ideas were given any weight.
