[kidzrule]

Hello this will be my first year involved in my childs school. I am a person who likes to follow rules. Well the problem is that our president resigned and we had new elections. Our bylaws do not indicate that the only members authorized to vote are the excecutive board, when I brought this up the exc.board answer that this was done and the only thing we could do is move on and make an amendment to change the bylaws for future reference. I think this is the incorrect way to handle a situation. About 20 parents feel the same. My concern is if in the future they violate the bylaws again they will say the same thing "Well what is done is in the past, lets move forward". What can we do can we do, void these elections or we just have to accept?

[pzettler]

Two quick questions that I think will help others better respond to you.

What do your bylaws state about who can vote?

If your bylaws mention anything about Robert's rules of order, what do they say?

[PresidentJim]

I think we need a bit more information...

When were these "elections" held?

If it was last year as many Bylaws state, then trying to change things in October is a little bit too late, IMO. On the other hand, if this is something that just recently happened then I would agree that you and these "20 parents" could try to do something about it. Say at the October meeting the President said, congratulations to so and so who is the new treasurer, and so and so who is the new Secretary, etc. If that was the case then I would say that at that exact moment someone should have raised their hand and questioned things. Even if that didn't happen it could be questioned at the November meeting, with a "Looking at our Bylaws, it looks like they were not followed in regards to our elections. having talked with some of the other parents here in attendance, I understand that there are some who wish to run for some of the open positions. Can we hold the elections over per our Bylaws?"

I am sure there are, as there always are, things going on behind the scenes that have'nt been explained. For example...

Were the ones put in place friendly with the President or the Executive Board?

How was the President and/or the Executive Board elected/reelected if the election process was not followed?

The point is that unless there are others who are willing to step up and take on a position, bringing all of this to a head would be a waste of time.

Hope things work out,
PresidentJim

Are there others who would like to run?

[kidzrule]

Our prsident resigned in September and there were about 3 nominations for the vacancy but when it was time to vote the exec.board whent to another room and voted. My question is is the exec. board the only ones allowed to vote incase of a resignation? Our bylaws do not indicate this. It does that incase of the resignation of the president the vice president shall serve notice to the exec. board. But it dosent say anything about the exec. being the only ones allowed to vote. Now we have about 20 ladies who say they did have a right to vote. Now they want a re-take and have new voting elections.What should we do?

[PresidentJim]

Based on what you have described I would have to agree that things were handled improperly, but the Bylaws need to be examined a bit more. Does this mean that your V.P. did not want to accept the promotion? Does your Bylaws indicate anything about what happens if an executive board position needs to be filled during the year? If there is nothing specific regarding this then I would have to say that the normal voting process, per your Bylaws, would need to be followed. Being that it sounds as though they were not, I would recommend bringing this up during the meeting with with "Looking at our Bylaws, it looks like they were not followed in regards to the election of the Presidency when the last one resigned. They indicate that the Vice President can serve notice of the desire to take on the Presidency, but since she did not desire the role we should have followed our standard election process. Having talked with some of the other parents here in attendance, I believe that it would not affect things, but would make it offical. Can we hold the election over per our Bylaws?"

This way you are not coming off too confrontational, and those others who wish to be nominated can get on the slate and everyone can have a say.

Good luck, with things "done" it's going to be tough.

PresidentJim

[OneandOnly]

Your VP should have been the one to move up. If that happened, then they did follow bylaws. However, if someone else moved in as President, then they did violate the bylaws. Their reason is cause for worry as you pointed out. They could easily say that in the future as well.
Ask for a copy of the bylaws which every PTO member is fully entitled to upon asking. A copy is to be at all PTO meetings and one with the Principal as well. You can bring this to the attention of the Principal stating that they are violation of the bylaws and parents are upset.

Depending on the principals point of view, whether you receive a copy of the bylaws, etc. I would have all 20 parents attend the next meeting and raise it during the open forum part of the meeting. State that you question the validity of the vote and to read the exerpt from the bylaws stating that only the executive board votes to replace a president.
It seems to me that if for a yearly election the membership votes for executive board positions, then it should hold true for a replacement situation as well.