We did not have it in our bylaws where it said teachers couldn't hold any position. But we specifically created the Teacher Rep. to get them involved. A few years ago, we had teachers take over spots that we couldn't fill. It turned out that the board mainly consisted of staff. It was a nightmare. There were only 3 of us that were just parents. I like the idea of having a staff member be the treasurer because you can count on their integrity, and you will always know where the checkbook is. But the other positions should be parent/guardian only. I am in the process of creating bylaws for my new school, and that will definetly be in there!
We do not have something that specifically states an employee can't be an elected offical but it is suggested that all staff representative positions be filled before this is considered and the employee must be a parent to be eligible for election. It has been my experience over the last 4 years that anytime a school employee is in charge of the money that records don't seem to be kept and they tend to find ways to authorize funds outside of meetings, like a $700 catered Boston Market lunch, and so we are working on changing this at our school.
The irony of commitment is that it’s deeply liberating-in work, in play, in love. The act frees you from the tyranny of your internal critic, from the fear that likes to dress itself up and parade around as rational hesitation. To commit is to remove your head as the barrier to your life. --Anne Morris
Where Can we find these bylaws? We have a teacher as our President and she is taking over the school as if she owns it. There have been many parents and teachers that have come up and complained to me about it. I was the President last year when we had a Principal who would not work with us and we went and got everything donated so we did not spend and of the funds we had left. Last year we were not able to have a fundraiser. I was out there recuting parents to sign up for PTO this year where was the other people who were recuting. All the members form last year wanted to help recuite people and were told that they can not only the teachers can. What really makes me mad was all items should be sent in two languages. One being english and the other spanish. The note was only given to a few classes and the day of the meeting and in one language. Help me PLEASE!
We prefer that a teacher is treasurer, it's much more convienent that way for us. Our President has been a sub aide for a year and works most days. I have been a sub aide for nearly 4 years and during this time I have served as VP, Pres, and this year I am sec/vol. cooridinator.
One of our teachers is our treasurer. She is a very dedicated person and there is no conflicts that we have ever run up against. Our bylaws do not state teachers can not be an officer.(They are all dues paying members).
It varies. I belong to two PTO's. One has bylaws that expressly forbids a school employee or district employee in a management position from serving as an ELECTED officer. But they can still be committee chairs and there are 4 school rep positions on our Board.
The other PTO has no restriction and the school nurse was President a year or so ago. One of the teachers was also on the board (I forget which position.) Both were also parents.
