Okay I am confused...why would you make special provisions for parents who were unable to come and vote the night of the meeting? I have never heard of this? Do other PTSO's allow this to happen? I feel that if a vote is important to you - you will make the time to be there and vote. If an emergency arises that is the breaks. We do not allow proxy votes, early voting, etc. Earlier this year we were going to vote on funding for a new school sign...many teachers did not want it because they wanted us to buy them all laptops...so our principal told us she thought the teachers should be able to put a vote in our boxes that day because they didn't want to come to the meeting. We said no. Her comments were "so if a teacher doesn't want to take the time to come in the evening then they don't get a vote?" We said, "Exactly!" Just like the parents. We need to realize that a parent's time is just as valuable as the teachers. We love our staff and our principal and have not had any lingering negative problems from this decision. Of course no teachers showed up to vote and the parent's approved the sign unanimoulsy. It just bothers me that after a vote parents complain about the results...even if you were there - you should accept that you lost the election and move on. I cannot even imagine such a situation at our school. It always makes me wonder what is really going on when two parents are so bitterly fighting to win a "volunteer" position. Our board "titles" don't mean as much as in some of these schools I have read posts from. We all work as a team and often I as treasurer this year do more work than the president, because she has a new baby. We all have our stregths and weaknesses. We help each other and there is no power trip! I think something shoud be learned from that. Everyone needs to stop and remember why we are doing all this "free" work - for the children! [img]tongue.gif[/img]

Scooby,
Surely your bylaws have something about a quorum. A quorum for a vote would most certainly involve at least half the members.

One of the things that troubles me is that the principal had any say whatsoever in the way the vote is/was conducted. Isn't your PTO its own entity? With its own EIN number? I know that I've been very lucky with my own principal, she and I are friends as well colleagues, but we would never allow her to make the decisions for our organization simply because she is the principal. She attends as A)the principal and B)as a concerned parent. She does not make decisions for us or about us, other than to vote as a concerned parent, one of many.

I sympathize about your missing voters. I have come to find out that the parents who support me are the parents who work. The parents who cannot make meetings and volunteer at the school on a regular basis. My supporters are the ones who trust me to represent them during officer meetings when we are narrowing choices down to present at the general meetings. My supporters know what kind of job I did this last year, and so do I. Do I need a title to do great things for my school? No. And I'll tell you something:
Neither Do You. Have pride in yourself that you didn't cheat, lie or steal to win the election. Everyone else knows you didn't lie, cheat or steal the election. Hold your head up and move on. Get past this or it will eat you up. Get your supporters together and attend the meetings and vote in the stuff you would have picked anyway. Mostly, be proud of the job you've done and will do. Take it to the next level by moving past this one. Be a great example for the kids by congratulating the winners and then, move on to bigger, better and brighter things.

Oh! I also forgot to add that in all the years I have been at this school, we have always had 3 days to return our ballots. So we have never had to be at a specific place at a specific time. All this was changed about a week before the election.

I do not want a re-vote. I just want the people with whom the principal would not let vote to be able to. He would not allow people who worked afternoons to come in and vote earlier or even to have absentee or proxy ballots. I had a long talk with him after the election and he said because of the terrible turn out, that maybe he should have allowed them to. He is new to our school and decided to change the voting procedures in which we have had in place for many years. I know, I know, new principal, new rules. But he even admitted that in the high school and middle schools they don't really have elections because no one wants the job! He had no idea how to properly handle the situation, because there is nothing in our by-laws about the actual election procedures. There is a half of a page about the nominating and election committees, but that didn't matter because they were not followed anyhow. He was not informed about how elections proceeded until they were ready to have a vote. He pretty much had to throw this whole thing together at the last minute. But, that gave these people plenty of time to do some major damage not just to me, but to the PTO as a whole. Because none of the by-laws were followed and because of the way the past president called people accusing me of things, we don't look very good. (I would love to send you a copy of our by-laws, Tim!!) All I am looking for is to let the parents know that what they have to say counts, that we don't just take their money and run, and that a bad situation could be rectified. P.S. I probably would not have done anything,(you all know what a woos I am), if the parents hadn't have come to me. In fact, I feel more like I am protesting against them not being able to vote, than for me to actually win. I mean who is to say I will win if more people vote?

I just received a phone call from the president from last year and she said if I continue protesting the election, the principal is going to disband the PTO. She actually had the nerve to tell me that the petition being signed by parents who wanted to vote but couldn't, (work, emergencies, etc) is actually a petition from me for parents to sign to disband the PTO. That is the last thing I want. The president from 3 years ago and the current treasurer are going around saying this. What is wrong with these people?? Yes, I am crying again......I cannot believe the lenghts these people will go to to make me look bad. I just feel that 31 out of 95 people voting doesn't make an election. Especially when you know you have more people who were gonna vote for you, but they had emergencies or the like. How long does everyone else get to vote?? We had it from 5-7 on a Wednesday. Not only is that dinner time, but soccer and baseball practices started too most at 6:00. My kids personally had cub scouts. One ladie's brother died. One had to take her baby to the emergency room. Many did not even know we had an election because one note went home a few weeks before the election and one went home the day of. Many people didn't even read the second one until after the election was over.My neighbor didn't even get any notes because her kids always "forgets" to give them to her. My thought was to mail the people their ballots and tell them to return them on a certain day during school. That way they could be checked off the list so no one could vote twice. But I seem to be going no where. Am I fighting a losing battle?? The president even had the nerve to say "I don't really want to be president, but it is sort of my job now". If she doesn't want it, then give it to me!! Could you all help?? What would you do in this situation?