Hi Anonymous -
It's a tricky question. Most PTOs and PTAs do serve a role of supporters/virtual PR arms of the school, but it's by no means a requirement. I imagine (hope) your new president feels that she is in support of the long-term interests of the school and kids in her criticism.
As far as policy, PTOs are independent, so that kind of a policy/mission would be up to your group at your school. PTO Today doesn't have an official stance on really any of these issues, though we do offer advice and best practices. Our official stance is that we're really strongly in favor of parental involvement (even when the opinions don't jibe with current school policy). That said, we do find that collaboration and teamwork and positive communication between school and parents is most often best.
There are times when really positive groups have cause to get up in arms. If a principal, for example, is doing a clearly poor job and none of the initital steps to create change make any difference, then I, for one, would be organizing parents to address that.
So the question(s) goes/go back to your group: what does your mission say? what do your bylaws say? are there other parents who feel differently who want to step up to leadership?
Finally, even if the president feels this way, it shouldn't be her call exclusively as to how your group works/talks. Though she may be president, it's not *her* group not her exclusive voice.
Good luck. Interested to hear more as you progress. Hope this helps.
Tim
- Rockne
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