We do have $1.00 dues. The only argument left for keeping it is so that not just anybody can show up at a particular meeting and decide to wreak havoc. ha ha

But, I do believe that I read on here somewhere about a school that included in their by laws that you had to have attended X amount of meetings to be eligible to vote in elections and such.

I'm thinking more and more about dropping the dues. I do like the idea of giving the dues back to the child's classroom though!

We do not have dues. Every parent and teacher in our schools is a member automatically.

Every year we have general membership votes on three topics:

1. Electing new officers
2. Approving the budget for PTO programs
3. Approving PTO money allocated to the schools

Of course, other things could come up in any given year, but it's rare.

The three votes above are scheduled for the same times each year, published in the newsletter, etc. We allow any member who has attended two of the past three meetings (including the current meeting) to vote on an issue.


Eventually I'd like to see an online voting system (based on our volunteers in the PTO Manager software) but since this is our first year with this new software, something like this will have to wait until we're comfortable with the system.

library mom - I don't think that's weird. I actually think it's a terrific compromise and would like to hear more.

I have a question - not trying to be smart, just curious to see how a different system works. What is the incentive to pay the dues if everyone is a member and everyone gets a vote? I mean besides the direct impact of enhancing their child's classroom (bonus!).

Ok, maybe we're a little weird. We charge $2.50 per adult for dues. 100% of the money goes to the child's teacher's classroom. If there is more than 1 child of the adult that paid, the money is divided between their homeroom teachers.

But, we do not make it madatory to have paid to vote or participate in events. We welcome one and all with open arms.

[ 08-17-2006, 06:58 PM: Message edited by: library mom ]

My last group did not charge dues. Parents or Guardians of enrolled students and all staff members were automatically members. Voting privileges were reserved for board members which consisted of President, VP, Secretary, Treasurer, two teacher reps and chairmen of recognized committees. Note, if a committee had co-chairmen, only one had a vote. If both chairmen attended the same meeting, it was up to them to decide and then announce which one would be the official vote.

Thank you so much Tim! Not charging a fee made more sense to me if you want more people involved.