Our situation works since we're a small expatriate community and our school only has 170 students PreK-12. We all know each other pretty well, almost too well at times! Our big problem is dealing with gossip. The rumor mill runs rampant here and stories about teachers & staff, students, and parents are almost like urban legends. What is fact, what is fiction, and what happened so long ago that it doesn't even count! We're pushing now for good COMMUNICATION! Making sure everyone is well informed since half-truths make for good gossip. We're making ourselves available when needed, but letting the community know that there are chains of command and these should be used. For instance, don't complain about a certain teacher at the PTO meeting, go to the administration. Don't complain to the teachers about the board decisions, go to the board directly. We're also implementing follow ups. If any of us is approached with a problem, we "log" it, come to a conclusion about it, and take care of it how we agreed to. This eliminates the "I told the principal and he hasn't done anything" way of thought. Lots of people complain to everyone except the one person who can actually do anything about it! I have developed a good working relationship with staff, admin, teachers, board members and parents, even before I was asked to be president, so that road is smooth so far. I'm really looking forward to working with a great team of parents this next year!!!
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I want to know how you did it? How do you get the "interest" going? I am a PTO president and a member of the Schools District Advisory Council, I think I was asked to be on the council because of my PTO position and boy have I learned a BUNCH!! I think it would be awsome to get the three groups together!!!!

I personally don't see a problem with it, especially since I'm the new PTO president and my husband is the School Board president for next years' boards. We joked about "stacking the deck" but we certainly didn't plan for this! Like you, I think that in our situation the triangle between the school, the PTO and the Board will better serve our community by providing more communication at a higher level. The only problem I can see is if the two separate boards have differing directives towards the school. Where is the loyalty going to be?

I am looking for input on how other PTO groups feel about having a Board of Ed. member also act as president of the PTO. Do you have by-laws that directly address this issue? I believe it is a positive reflection on our school and allows more communication between 2 groups that otherwise would not communicate.