Hi Mary. We joined two schools into one new school a year ago. We were very leary about how the two PTO's were going to come together. We thankfully had about a year to work everything together. We started having joint meetings every other month the second half of the 2000-2001 school year. During this time we made a by-laws committee with 2 reps. from each school and came up with new by-laws. Although, they remained pretty much the same. Both had very similiar by-laws. It gave us the opportunity to make some changes in things that really didn't apply any more. Then when the 2001-2002 school year began we were still in separate buildings, but held all joint meetings and had reps from each schools on all committees. We came together into one new school building during the Thanksgiving vacation. All officer positions were co-officers for that entire year. Then for the 2002-2003 election single officers were elected to each position. It was not exactly easy, but we did it. There was compromise from both sides and we are getting stronger and better as we go. Just remember your focus needs to remain what is best for the children. You will also need to keep up a positive attitude during this time. Our biggest fear was that the officers would not get along. A some few didn't really care for each other, but kept up a positive attitude during the meetings. If there is a lot of conflict within the board, it will only add to the anxiety of coming together. Good Luck! [img]smile.gif[/img]
We just joined with another school this year(their school closed and the kids come here now). If your merge is going to be next school year, you need to move now. I got with the PTO Prez from the other school and even met with their entire board. We laid out a plan for auditing books and transferring funds and also discussed the programs sponsored by each group so we could put together a nice combination of both for the next year. This stuff was easy the hard part was the parents. We began having joint meetings immediately to discuss concerns and try to get folks together. Our school has a spring carnival every year so we invited the other school to participate. We had committees with parents from both schools and teamed classrooms together. I did team building exercises at meetings and tried to encourage group discussions. I sent welcome letters to the teachers explaining the classroom programs we sponsor and to the parents explaining ways they can get involved. We made a point of letting all the parents know when board elections were and gave them descriptions of each position. We made sure there were pamphlets at registration to explain all our programs. We had dinner at Open House to give people a chance to meet and chat. It took lots of communicating but the first day of school went really well and all the hard work paid off. We have increased involvment and higher attendance at meetings. Good luck and feel free to e-mail me with any questions or concerns. We had some tough times too so I can lend my ear and sympathy.
If I understand your post correctly, this could happen next school year? Would you still be the president or would you be having elections at the end of this school (if your school wasn't merging?) I would suggest meeting with any existing PTO group from the other school(s) and do a combined executive board, co-presidents, co-vice presidents, etc. This set-up will take some compromise, but you need to recognize that there are two (or 3) differently ran groups merging here and one group has to come from it. With this new board in place, combine the existing bylaws, existing budgets, and committees to create one. Like a blended family, this will not come without some growing pains, but think of it this way...more volunteers and assets. Keep in mind that the parents and the students will also be scrambling around with this merger and your new PTO could be the number one unit designed to make this transition a smooth one. Good luck and keep us informed about what works and what doesn't! :cool:
Help, I need, thoughts, ideas, and just plain help! I am the president of our PTO. Our school is considering a merge with 1-2 other schools, possibly something that will happen as soon as 2003-2004 school year! I am curious if this has happened to anyone else and how this is going to effect my PTO? How do I handle this? What do I need to be doing to prepare? I am not for sure if these other schools already have some parent group in place but I don't want to contact them till I get with our superintendent, but I didn't want to get with him till I heard from all of you with your thoughts and advice. Please hurry. I have a board meeting the first Tuesday in January and I have to get this all together and know what is going on so I can discuss this with my board. Thanks for your help in advance!
