[Jennshimanski]

Hi. I'm the current PTO President at the middle school in town. The PTO in our school is relatively new...only 5 years old! Our Executive Board Members currently consist of President, President-Elect (which is currently vacant), Secretary, Treasurer, Membership and the Principal. A typical meeting has about 10 additional members (sometimes less) present. We are currently thinking about updating our bylaws to elliminate the Principal as an Executive Board Member. As the Principal of the middle school, there may be a conflict of interest. As it is, our board is small. Having the principal weigh in on all decisions/concerns may be difficult because he is administration. Our PTO wants to have the Principal very involved but we are not sure it is best for him to be on the Executive Board. Can you please send in your opinions and thoughts regarding this issue? Thank you!

[JHB]

There are opinions on both sides of this, but I personally consider the principal one of the PTO's most important stakeholders and a very logical choice for a board member.

That being said I tend to favor larger executive boards that include the elected officers plus school reps plus committee chairs. Since the Board often makes the vast majority of decisions for a PTO, my opinion is that it should be fairly large and representative of those it serves.

[PresidentJim]

My group's Bylaws do not stipulate who can be an Executive Board member, just that every parent or guardian or member of the professional staff are automatically a member of the PTO. Also that the Executive Board is made up of the President, V.P., Secretary and Treasurer (plus a Clerk which we don't have), as well as anyone else that the Executive Board deems necessary. Like your group they state that only Executive Board members vote (though I almost always allow all present to vote on decisions).

So, in my opinion, I would already feel that the Principal is a member of the Executive Committee and has the right to vote. It seems that your group presently has at least 4 voting members (plus membership, whatever that means), so a single voting member (in this case the Principal) shouldn't be able to get something passed through without enough support from everyone else.

I can see reasons why a group would want to ensure that their Bylaws indicate that a member of the professional staff can not hold an officer position, or at a minimum, can not be the President, but allowing the Principal to have a vote should be a good thing.

PresidentJim

[OneandOnly]

Our bylaws are specific as to the positions and then state that the Principal and a teacher liaison will be a part of the board. The board consists of the Chairpersons, so they have the same input and rights as them.

I think that it can be a conflict of interests. aAthough you may have a principal now that would not use their position and influence to get what they want, its not to say that it wouldn't happen in the future. You have to think "big picture" and consider all the whatifs that could happen in the future.

If your bylaws place the principal and teacher liaison at the board level, also include that all plans must be presented and approved to the principal by the executive board so its clear that the principal does have some authority with the PTO. But I think it should be separate from the Executive Board.

[JHB]

Oneandonly - I don't understand your response. You said that your bylaws DO have the principal and teacher liaison as part of the board. But then later you say that scenario can be a conflict of interest? What did you mean? Are you saying you don't feel the way your organization currently handles it is working? Do you think you'll be changing your bylaws?

I think that since the Principal has a vested interest in groups related to the school, eliminating his/her position from the PTO executive board would be a bad decision. You would be alienating your chief advocate!

Our bylaws stipulate a President, VP, Treasurer, Secretary, Teacher Representative and Principal as members of the Executive Board. Our President only votes in the event of a tie.

It works for us!