PTO Today

Our Principal is the permanent Vice President of the PTO. We have a President-Elect, which basically does all the duties of VP. Our principal attends every meeting, shares ideas, and is a vital part of our Board.

The Principal can have a vote, but only if she or he is a parent of a student in that school.

Friendly and frequent communication with the Principal and administration is critical, but Parent Group topics and issues should be dealt with by the Parent Group.

Looking at it another way: Does the PTO President get a vote or input on school policy issues? They have their business and we have ours. Both are operating with the safety and welfare of our students and school in mind.

I'm VP of the parent group at the High School, 1,600 students. We have one of the Assistant Principals as liaison and she attends each of our meetings, gives input and takes our concerns and issues back to the other administrators. The Principal has used our meetings to put out information on major policy changes in the school and also updates on construction and organization of the new HS that is being built. Our Principal and Assistant Principal do not get votes on our actions.

We have a very good relationship with our administrators but to me, giving the Principal voting authority would be giving away some of our power and responsibility.