hippeepip;103302 wrote: Our PTO President sent out an email stating she was taking a "vote" on spending $1400 for our school. This was supposed to go out to all PTO members, but since there are no dues, isn't that all the parents in the school? Anyways, she stated that if she received no response by 3 p.m. the day she sent it out that would be considered a "yes" vote but if you chose to vote no then you must include the reason why and then it would only be taken into consideration. Then she basically stated the exec. board would have the final say. Since our by laws were last done in 1987 and no one has ever had a chance to see them, we are unsure of how to approach this. Is this appropriate? Very curious. Does anyone else take votes via email? Any help would help!!!

I would request in writing to the secretary of your PTO the By-Laws, then one you receive them see if there is a section that covers pto by-law amendments and then follow that to request an amendment...GOOD LUCK!

Try this next time you get stopped for speeding. Tell the officer that you don't answer to him, that you see the posted speed limit sign as a suggestion, not as a rule and will continue to keep right on driving 80mph on the highway, thank you very much. Once you get out of jail, come back here and tell us all about it.

Let's break your message down into critical points:

Email Voting - if your bylaws don't specifically allow for it then it isn't a viable choice. You must follow your bylaws. Where they are silent on an issue, Robert's Rules is the prefered backup guide.

President Accountability - The president is the most accountable to the group. Their role is to lead the group according to the rules and votes as passed by the membership.

Dissovling the PTO - This simply cannot be done by the executive board. It isn't as easy as saying, "Oh, today the ABC PTO no longer exists. Tomorrow we're starting over as the XYZ PTO." Dissolving a parent group is a major process that must be voted on by the membership. He needs to get over himself.

Bylaws Changes - As with dissolution, this is a major process that requires membership voting. Unless or until the membership officially votes in the changes, the last approved version of the bylaws is the group's governing document. Simply saying, "These are our new rules." does not make it so.

Removal of Officers - If your executive board members continue to act counter to your bylaws and the wishes of the membership, consider following the Removal of Officers process. Perhaps if they realize that they can't just act on their own whims then they'll straighten up and fly right.

You're on the right track, Gorham. It's perfectly OK to have high expectations of your elected officers and to demand that they follow the rules. Consider running for office yourself. Maybe you're just the change this group needs to get things running smoothly again.

We had our PTO President send out a e-mail requesting a vote for funds on a non-urgent matter. Regardless of the reason, our By-Laws state that a quorom Must be "present", so how can you vote via e-mail?
She never even called the Executive Members, she just sent the e-mail out for the vote.
Most of our Members do not have access to the internet all the time and how can you vote on a topic/item via e-mail when Roberts Rule's of Order clearly states to vote: 1) Member makes a motion 2) another member seconds the motion 3) the table is open for discussion 4)vote is taken & counted and a decision is made or tabled.

The PTO President has stated that she does not have to answer to the PTO Group and that the By-Laws are just guidlines! I do not feel that this is appropriate, we as a group voted her into office, trusting her, not for her to do what ever she wants and when someone try's to stand up for what is right against her then her Boyfriend who is an Executive Board Member, becuase she said he was, the Executive Members never voted on it she just said so and I have stood up to the violating of By-Laws that she has try to force me out, but I would not go. Now other Members are standing with me. Last Night she backed down after accusing me of being the problem and left crying. Did I want her to Leave? NO! Do I think she has done Great things for the PTO in the Past? Yes! What many Pto Members and myself want is for her to abide by our PTO By-Laws just like every other member has to do. E-mail voting is in conflict with Robert's Rules Of Order which when not in conflict with our PTO By-laws they govern us.

What a Mess! Then her boyfriend said we should dissolve the PTO and start over, leaving the trouble makers out of office next time, so in other words they want to start the PTO over and keep the Strong willed out of Office so when they do something that is wrong others will not stand against them and then they can do what ever they want that suites their needs.

I was at the Executive Meeting where the President and another officer were trying to word the By-Laws Just right to Limit and exclude other Board Members, PTO Voting rights, in other words "hushing" those who do not agree with her and leaving them with no rights.

Sorry, so long it is all fresh in my head from the fight from the PTO meeting last night!!
Thanks!

We've never done an e-mail vote, but we do sometimes do a "write-in" vote which involves a paper ballot sent home and to be returned w/ the vote by a certain date. The ballot explains the item for vote and has clear voting statements (i.e. "I'm voting FOR allocating $XXX from non-designated funds for...). This method is used for two reasons: 1) A general membership mtg lacks a quorum (20 people to vote, based on our by-laws); or 2) time is an issue in order to take action before the next general mtg (i.e. funds for a major landscaping project that needed to be done before the end-of-year mtg in May). In a perfect world, write-in ballots might not be necessary but the reality is we can't get much done without them. The landscaping project was discussed at a general mtg but there weren't enough people present to vote. I would love to have more people at meetings, but the purpose of the meeting is to communicate and get things done, and if we can do that without a meeting I'm okay with that, too. Meetings aren't the main point of our organization in and of themselves, and many people feel a meeting is not a good use of their time -- they're more likely to spend school involvement time by volunteering to actually help with an event or school need. I want to find ways to work with that rather than making meeting attendance itself the main focus. We only get about half of the write-in ballots returned, so obviously some people still don't care and don't vote, but those who do and just don't make it to meetings can have their input.

Our music parents organization has a compromise. In our by-laws we allow for e-mail notification and have a downloadable ballot. ALL votes for election of officers or by-law changes must be done by hard copy and sent in to the music directors. We have ballots available with the directors but most people copy them from the e-mail and then send them in with their kids. They can also mail them if they think that's more dependable or hand them over at the meeting when the vote is announced. The ballots are due two weeks from the meeting. They also must be signed. While this is not anonymous from the people counting the ballots, it does negate any duplicate votes. We added this to the by-laws after hearing people complain about how they couldn't attend the meetings but wanted to participate. It's a good alternative for us.

I thought this was a joke...I really did. If you have no dues then every family in your school has a vote. I was thinking about our nominination ballots and how out of 467 kids we received 16 back...it surprised me because we have a VERY VERY strong volunteer base but they dont care about voting. What is the rush with the decision that it couldn't be posted on the agenda and given noticed that it would be decided at the next meeting? seems like she is way over her limits...