By the way, this is my first year on the board second year dealing attitude! The PTO pres. is new this year but, inadvertanly has a worse attitude than the one the year before. She has stated this is her only year. Maybe you'll run into the same situation!
Melissa,
Take it from the lady who argued with the kooky PTO Pres. in lobby of the school. Follow Rockne's advise!
I did that all year then just before Christmas got fed up with her childish behavior & blew an entire half year's worth of building up trust with one statement. "The only way your keeping me out of the meeting is if I'm dead" or something very close. I could have easily said,"well let's see if we can change the schedule around." Nope not me! After that I happily marched myself to where the meeting would take & entered anyway. HA SO THERE!!!
Our equally mature Pres. responded by glaring at me or ignoring me for the following 2 days during Santa Shop. She acted very poorly! However, I new I had to be the bigger person & being sick of it tried to show her what her behavior is breeding.I still feel the impact of that exploding in my face.If she didn't listen before she sure won't listen now.
Sometimes as frustrating as it is, you just have to play the game their way. I have a friend I share all my ideas with who inturn shares them w/ the pres. the idea goes through, is a big hit & the kids have fun!
Take a deep breath! The year is almost over & you can run or be on the board next year [img]smile.gif[/img]
The "coup" comment was really meant to be tongue-in-cheek--I was so angry at having my time wasted last night!
I am in the process of trying to get a copy of the by-laws, as they were never distributed to parents.
As far as her term being over in a few months. . .who knows for sure???? I would have thought her term should have been over last June, with a new election taking place either last June, or at the beginning of the school year. How is it that no elections were even held???
As far as this woman being a kook--I don't if she's a straight nut, or an extreme egomaniac! I don't care about any kind of perceived status--I just want to raise a meaningful amount of money for our school, so that we can enrich our students' (and teachers') school experience. She seems to only be interested in owning the title of "President."
Last year was my son's first year at this school (kindergarten). I went to EVERY event the school sponsored, and NOT ONCE did I see a PTA presence. Those kinds of events are the perfect forum to build PTA membership and involvement. I mentioned as much to the president, and instead of asking for ideas, she became resentful and snide. What do you do with that??????
It would be so easy to just say "screw it" and solely focus on my son's education [who is a straight-A student, thank you very much! [img]redface.gif[/img] )].
But, there is sooooo much good that can be done.
The principal is a goof, and I really don't have a handle on his role in all of this. The jury is still out on that one!
Now I just have to figure out how to get my hands on those bylaws!!!!
I agree with Tim in that a coup is never really the way to go. It is an ugly thing and even if you are 110% correct it does not mean you will come away from it smelling like a rose. Not to mention the damage it can do to the program.
If her time will be up soon it will definitely be better to bide your time. In the meantime, I do think you should try to get a copy of your bylaws and arm yourself with the knowledge of your groups bylaws.
Glad you found the site. KMA -- I don't really think this is a PTA-centric issue at all. This thing happens to all parent groups all the time. Not soemthing that state-level or county-level PTA is designed to jump in on.
Melissa -
I hate to say it, but a coup (even talking about it that way) isn't the way to go. The last thing you want is a huge conflict that will virtually shut your group down and mean that none of your good work is getting done.
Does this lady sound like a kook? Yes. Are you right in hoping for and working toward change? From the sounds of it, yes.
Rather than a coup, though, can you and perhaps a group of like-minded non-kooks take the high road and work for change quietly (together-- strength in numbers) from the inside? Let this lady think the good ideas are hers. Make her look like a hero when things go well. Get more of your like-minded non-kooks in leadership positions over time.
Unless she's doing something really wrong (stealing, breaking key bylaws for nefarious purposes -- in which case your bylaws should have provisions for removing a leader), it's decidedly difficult and ugly to remove a leader. "Being a kooky pain-in-the-rear" is not generally sufficient cause. Besides her term is probably up in 4 or 6 months anyway.
Stay at it and make great changes. Just stay away from the coup talk.
Since you're a PTA, you really want to MichelleB to post here--she's the PTA aficionado. Since PTAs have an organized structure with chain of command, you probably could get the help you need.
