Our PTO President has turned in her resignation. This leaves our PTO in a predicament. The two remaining officers feel we should hold complete re-elections. Our current bylaws state that "a vacancy occurring in any office shall be filled by vote of the organization within one month of the vacancy." The elections held in May were not held according to the bylaws. No nominating committee was set forth to prepare a new slate of officers for nominations. Someone actually came forth on their own stating that they would like to be President or Vice-President and was told by the President (that just resigned) that we are only going to have one President from now on. Is it proper procedure to announce that we will be holding re-elections before school starts or should we just elect a new President and Vice-President until re-elections next spring? We want to go about this the proper way, as nothing in the past year or two has been anywhere near proper. If we were to call a special meeting, do we announce that it is a re-organizational meeting or re-elections? We also would like to adopt a new set of bylaws, as the current ones are more than ten years old and very vague. Can a new set be presented to be voted on at the re-organizational meeting or should it be addressed after the re-elections are held and over with (if we hold re-elections)? Our bylaws state that "The officers shall be a President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer" but at election time, there was no "Vice President" elected. The current (now former) President said that "we are only going to have one from now on". At the beginning of the 2000-2001 school year, we had a Vice President and she moved and was never replaced. (Why? I don't know.) She also stated that we are only going to have 3 meetings a year from now on. How can you have a PTO with only 3 meetings a year?!
Also, the Roberts Rules of Order that we have is a 1989 copyright, should we get an updated version or are they all pretty much the same? We want to be current, so please advise on which book we should use. Thank you in advance for all your help!

Boy! You have quite a few things going on here, don't you? Personally, I'd start with your officer vacancies before tackling new bylaws. According to your existing bylaws, you should only replace the 2 vacant positions (which I assume are Pres. & VP) first thing in the school year. It looks like the other 2 offices would stand as voted upon (unless 1 of those officers takes one of the vacancies? -- IS THAT LEGIT??). In the absence of a nominating committee, I guess that leaves your current officers to do the recruiting. Unless you actually have people who've signed up for a nominating committee & they've simply never been utilized. Where do you keep your lists of committee members? It would be best for them to recruit over the summer so you can have a proposed slate in the fall.

I don't know enough about "official" procedure though to tell you who should officiate your first meeting without a pres or vp. I'm also not sure how to handle the timing of the announcement of your slate of officers with the actual election (we normally have a month in between, but your bylaws state you should fill the vacancy within 30 days). Having this happen during the summer makes it all a challenge too!

You stated that your current (now resigned) pres. said you were only going to "have one from now on". Does that mean you used to have co-presidents? Or does it mean have a pres. & no vp?

Once your officers are in place, you can deal with new bylaws. I think it's fairly standard to have a committee research & rewrite them. We'd announce the intent to change them at the beginning of the year & ask for volunteers for the committee. Then the proposed changes would be voted upon by your membership. Most bylaws include a section regarding revisions & how they should be done.

Regarding new officers, are you currently one of the officers or are you considering one of the vacancies?

Hang in there!
Jo

[This message has been edited by MightyJo (edited 07-01-2001).]

Yes, we do have quite a few things going on! I agree with filling the officer vacancies, first, but the remaining two officers feel that there should be a complete re-election of ALL officers since the elections weren't done the right way to begin with. (No nominating committee and turning away someone who voiced their interest in a position.) I guess the entire situation is so messed up that there is no way we can find an answer to what would be the right thing to do in our current bylaws. The 2 vacant positions are the Pres. And VP.
The remaining 2 officers are in a tough place here because they don't want to just "appoint" a new Pres. and VP, because that is what the former Pres. did too much of. They want the elections to be done the right way and I guess we just aren't sure what is right in this situation. We do not have a nominating committee, and haven't had for a few years it seems. Why? I don't know because the bylaws state that we are supposed to.

We are thinking about announcing in the local newspaper that we are holding a "special meeting" on Aug 3rd to hold re-elections. That would be after our school registration, and before school starts so it would be out of the way before school starts.

"You stated that your current (now resigned) pres. said you were only going to "have one from now on". Does that mean you used to have co-presidents? Or does it mean have a pres. & no vp? "

We used to have a President and VP. But for some reason, the former Pres. took it upon herself to decide that we were only going to have one Pres. and no VP from now on.


I think I will suggest that we get past the elections first, and then get started on the bylaws. I have been doing much research on the bylaws and have come up with a "proposed set" for the group, we'll see what happens with that! I agree about having a committee for the bylaws. I guess there are 3-4 of us that have formed our own "committee" because we have been working on them together, getting them to be "user friendly", yet to the point.

"Regarding new officers, are you currently one of the officers or are you considering one of the vacancies?"

No, I am not one of the current officers, but I have been thinking very seriously about the President position. I am learning so much about how meetings are to be ran, and it actually seems like it would be fun… until a Parent like me steps forward! Really, I want to see the PTO benefit the school and do things correctly, not just exist and do what one person wants to do. There is so much more I could get into… but right now I am more interested in getting input on how to go about holding re-elections, so I'll just leave it at that! Consider yourself spared from a LONG gripe session!!

Here's my two cents on your $1,000,000 dilemma:

Your Bylaws say you have 4 officers, so your past prez was wrong in telling someone that there "would only be one from now on". Period. There are four officers, two of which are currently vacant. According to Roberts Rules, the treasurer presides at the meeting when the PRESIDEnt and vice PRESIDEnt (get it?) are absent.

My gut reaction is to wait until your first meeting of the year to hold elections to fill the 2 vacancies. I know in our community, people are far too scattered in August to get together for a fair and well-attended meeting until after school starts. Perhaps you could send home an announcement and request for candidates on the first day of school and then schedule your first meeting 2 weeks later. That would give time for the word to get around, and nominees to come forward (or be recruited).

Regarding the Nomm Comm: we too are supposed to have one, but in my 6 years in 2 PTOs, I have yet to see one in action. I think it's in part because Nomm Comm isn't a very exciting committee -- it doesn't put on an event, raise money, or have a theme. It seems that our current officers either run again, or take the lead recruiting new officers. Considering your particular situation, the need to fill these important positions quickly, and the precedent that you have not had a Nomm Comm, I would proceed this time without one. If people complain that there was no Nomm Comm, ask them to step forward to chair it!
Later, in preparation for next spring's elections, take the lead in establishing the Nomm Comm process so misleading info isn't spread again.

I'm certainly no expert, but I don't think your 1989 RRO is outdated. There just haven't been any ground-breaking developments in parlimentary procedure lately! If you don't already have one, buy 1 or 2 condensed books of RRO (there are several to choose from) and read them cover to cover, and have all your officers read it, too. There's alot more info in there than just how to make a motion.

Finally, on the subject of "only 3 meetings year" - we have monthly meetings, but I know JHB's PTO has only one general meeting to get the budget approved. Maybe she will respond to describe their set up. Our Bylaws are specific on the meeting schedule, too.

I think you should volunteer to be President next fall. Anyone who is as concerned as you are about the welfare of the PTO -- in July -- is the right person for the organization!

OEPTOMOM, See if your bylaws allows the calling of a meeting. Ours just requires a 30 day notice. If you have your memberships addresses I would call a meeting (or at least 30 days before the first week of school). Let everyone know that this board intends to stay with their bylaws and that you will be accepting nominations for all positions stated in your bylaws and that at this meeting a nominating committee will be put in place (according to your bylaws this may be necessary because the nominating committee may need to be elected)and that they will be notified of the their report with an election to be held 30 days later. (Most bylaws let you notify members of the proposed slate recommended by the nominating committee by mail given 30 days notice of an election.) When you send out the slate make sure you let them know when the election will be and that further nominations will be accepted from the floor at that time.
Until then, according to your bylaws, have the next in line serve as interum president. I still do not see the harm in calling that first meeting in mid August so that you can have your election by late September. (If everything moves along quickly) Our bylaws just address calling an unscheduled meeting and makes no reference that it cannot be done in the summer. Besides you really do not need that many in attendance just to elect a nominating committee. (At least a quorum though) If you need info on nominating committees or elections let me know.
I would let the bylaws go until after the election. Let us know!
Disclaimer: These are just suggestions and I have no idea if it is proper procedure.

[This message has been edited by plw (edited 07-02-2001).]

NEWS FLASH!!
As of this morning, our Secretary is resigning. She spoke with the former Pres. and has decided to resign! Now what do we do?? Can the Treasurer announce that we are re-organizing and just go from there?? I can't imagine getting a nominating committee together at this point. Is it appropriate to get a mailing together and send out to all families of the school, announcing that the Pres. and Sec. have resigned and that we are accepting nominations for ALL offices and elections will be held on Aug. 3rd? If they are interested in Pres. VP, Sec, or Treasurer, please sign up at the PTO booth at registration? How do you go about a re-orginazational meeting with only one officer left? Do we just pretend we are starting from scratch and start all over? There are so many conflicts with our current bylaws that I don't know where to start!
HELP!!!