Martin,

Don't give up on the survey part completely, it may be a useful tool down the road. If you're afraid people may make very personal and hateful comments, then I would agree that maybe it's not such a good idea now. I just put one together yesterday that I'm going to use at our first meeting. It has just basic, general yes/no questions with a few more detailed. I asked if people feel welcome at meetings, if they feel input and ideas are considered and welcomed, how many fundraisers they are comfortable doing in a year, and the top 3 areas they would like to see the PTO focus on for the year. Maybe this is something you could do at the end of this school year to help prepare for next year because it sounds like your #1 goal for the year is to solve your group's relationship problems with the teachers.

I wish you luck with your efforts. Hopefully, seeing the opinions and ideas of people outside your group may help push them toward some positive changes.

Thank you all for the great replies!

There were great ideas, and I'm going to print this off and take it to our meeting,(along with some other things I've gotten off of the website.)

The doing a survey thing scares me-especially the "rate us" part. I've had SOOOO many people tell me,"Well, because ________ is in the PTO, I won't have anything to do with it." I know everyone has excuses, and I also know IF someone else would stand up and run for an office, then "___________"wouldn't be there any more!! Am I making any since??

Anyway- Thanks again for the posts, and I really have enjoyed finding this sight. I'm hoping to get lots more great ideas from here!!

martin

I am a regular on the forum but because of this topic I will stay unregistered. For years our school's pta had a very hard relationship with the staff. pta meetings would often turn into bash the teacher nights, even if a teacher was there. Favortisim was often given to classes of the leaders children, one class gets hundreds of dollars and another nothing. With a new prinicpal the pta was dissolved forming our new group, without knowing about the history we found ourselves with alot of negative energy. Within time we wrote a letter to the staff asking what things or programs they would like us to CONSIDER (note not promised). On any project that was taking classroom time we asked them for input, we started doing staff appreciation week acknowledging all staff not just teachers. Give them each a little candy bar with a saying in their mailbox, you would be surprised how that goes. We asked around what sort of things did our school use to do that they enjoyed. All of these little things over three or four years have taken that relationship into one of respect. My advice to you is take it slowly and take into consideration what they would like done, not just money issues. It takes time to rebuild something that has been damaged over time, start with a little basket fo goodies or a flower arrangement in the staff lounge with a poster saying "heres to a great year". You know in your heart what needs to be done, if other parents fight you on it just keep trying, once they see progress i think they will be surprised.Trust me I have been there and I know it is very hard and uncomfortable, take it one step at a time...you will be glad you did!

I also agree you need to be the "bigger person" and get through this fued. Remember, these teachers are with your children for 7 hours a day+ it does NO GOOD to have "bad blood" between you!

We have 2 teacher representatives on our PTO board that act as go betweens between the teachers and PTO. If we have a request of the teachers we ask the teacher board reps first and they tell us if we are expecting too much, and it works the same way if the teachers have a request of us.

A wish list is an easy way to get the teachers feeling more comfortable about working with you. Who doesn't want thier wishes granted?? One word of caution... Sometimes the teachers may wish for the moon then get upset when thier wish is denied. Start small (ie. wishes $50 and under) and work from there. I have also found it helps motivate the parents to know they are fundraising for a specific purpose - a $50 wish for each classroom.

Good Luck and don't give up on your teachers - they never give up on our kids! [img]smile.gif[/img]

Wow, sounds like you have a regular feud going on between the teachers and your group! I have to agree with you that the PTO should make the move to correct that situation. If you have all these new teachers then you have a real opportunity to change things.

First, I think your board should get together and really get a firm handle on what your goals are as a group. Do you have a mission statement? Are you using it as a guide for the decisions your group makes? What do you feel are the top 3 most important things you can do for your school? How can you achieve those goals?

My next suggestion would be to make your first meeting a welcoming, get-to-know you event. Tell the attendees what goals your board came up with and the ideas you have for achieving them then ask for opinions and other ideas. Make sure someone is recording all the info. You might even start out the meeting with a simple survey. Hand one out to each person as they arrive and ask them to complete it and drop it in a basket before the meeting begins. Ask them things like what they expect of the group, and quick yes or no questions about the programs and events you sponsor, fundraisers, and even have a section on how they rate the group. Are you friendly and welcoming? Are you responsive to parent and teacher needs and suggestions? Ask things that will really give your group an idea of where you stand with the parents and teachers. After the meeting your board can review the responses and figure out what areas are on the right track and what areas need major overhauls.

Also, ask your teachers to come up with "wish lists" of things that are needed in the school then try to fill some of those needs. Making the teachers' lives easier will go a long way toward making some goodwill and it will also be benefit your children because you'll be getting things in the school that add to their educational experience.

Good luck and keep us posted. Oh yeah, welcome to the boards!

Greetings everyone!!

I'm new here, and could REALLY use some advise/input/HELP!!

Here is my thing....Our PTO basically $*!@$!! Just to put it bluntly.
I'm the Vice-President, and have been for the past 2 years. Our president has been in that postiton for 7 years. We have our first meeting of the year, and there are lots of parents at the meeting. After the first meeting, there are only officers that show up. Maybe 1 or 2 parents, but not the 30-50 that show up on the first meeting. We have MAYBE 1 to 2 teachers show up at a meeting. EVER!!
In the past, we've had "bad blood" between the teachers and the PTO. The teachers don't feel we do enough for THEM. We have bought cakes in the past for teacher appreciation, only for them to be thrown in the trash. Someone posted n :confused: ewspaper articles about things neighboring town PTO's do for their teachers. Teachers don't help, or show up for meetings because "they don't have time". We had 6 teachers retire from our school district this spring. I wanted to do something for them. I thought a placque would be nice. We had the Teachers Association ask us to provide dessert for the banquet that they had at the end of the year for all the retiring teachers. Our PTO did NOTHING for them. No dessert, no nothing. I couldn't get any of the officers to agree to do anything. ANYWAY..... here is my question(after all this blabbering) What EXACTLY is the PTO about?? Is it not about the kids? We are getting ready to have our first meeting of the year, and I think I'm getting ready to make a horses' patootie out of myself. I feel like WE as a PTO should be the BIGGER man and try and FIX the "bad blood". Our organization is going completely down hill. I also feel like the officers have ALL been in the position for long enough and if we don't have anyone to "step up to the plate" then we need to just divide our bank account and call the PTO quits.

REALLY, REALLY, REALLY need help.....

Thanks in advance!!

martin