Don't quote me on this, but I think our dues are automatic. They were on our book fees sheet that we had to do at enrollment. We had 4 people show up at our last meeting.
1) If the PTO is a school-wide organization and if its activities directly affect MY child and if I already pay to be a member of the school..
Then why should I have to pay to be a member of the PTO? And how can they restrict my participation when I'm a stakeholder.
2) At least according to two of my friends at private schools...the tuition basically just gets you in the door. There's an additional fee for EVERYTHING, some of which is optional, some of which really isn't. Joining the PTO would be like that. If you want to have a say in the decisions, then join.
I think you have to admit both sides have valid points. In my opinion, there's no easy "right" and "wrong" on this one, so hopefully you can keep everyone's feelings in mind and negotiate an appropriate solution.
My question was promted by the fact that our PTO is new to the school this year and there are some families that have been at the school for a long time who do not feel the need for the organization. There is one parent in particular that is spreading around the rumor that the organization is not allowed to collect dues. (we are a private school) but I have checked our bylaws and asked the ACSI organization that we are affiliated with and there is nothing that would prevent us from charging dues.
I guess I was wondering what would happen if these nay sayers show up at meetings and cause conflict.(non dues paying members)
I have been learning about how other PTOs are established and I just assumed that PTOs could decide to charge dues or not, I felt that this was a decision that the PTO pres. could make without having to ask the school board(Private school issue )for permision.
I was hoping that PTOs are a place where the parents could make a few decisions amongs themselves. Am I wrong?
Basically everything has been such a hassel that I am just about ready to give up !!!!
I don't know what prompted your question, but let me also add...
The PTO impacts the entire school, not just "members". All students get included in fundraising efforts and actitivies. Generally all parents are asked to volunteer. In some functions, the PTO is more acting as the agent of the school rather than itself. This isn't an afterschool club that only effects the kids who attend.
That being the case, member or not, I would expect an open door policy if it were MY money being sought, MY time being requested, MY child being effected. Even if not a member, as a parent in your school, I would very much be a stakeholder - and even as just that would expect the opportunity for input.
We have token dues and use the Aug/September membership recruitment time primarily for marketing and to encourage commitment. But, honestly, once that is over - there's no difference between being a member and a non-member. We serve the school and all the families. We recruit volunteers from all the families. I doubt the membership binder ever gets opened again after September other than to see who gets the "free" directories (a perk of membership) when they arrive.
As I said, if we had a controversial issue or a contested election, we'd have a "real" vote, checking for membership, etc. But it hasn't been necessary yet in the 19 or so years of our school. (Even in that case, anyone could attend, just not vote.)
I'm all for formalizing what MUST be formal. But otherwise - I advocate using plain common sense and keeping it simple.
JHB:
It sounds like our organizations are very much alike. The only thing we have different is that we don't have budget approval and our general meetings are Dec & May.
