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Q&A

PTO staying or going...

Our PTO was at the point of dissolving so some of us parents thought. Now they are saying they want to possibly keep the PTO but not raise funds for the school or kids, no bank account, nothing. Just basically, volunteer. The principal and I were wondering...IF they "PTO" stays whatever way they like....can there be a PTA formed? Another words...can we have a PTA and a so called PTO?
- UmNoor

I'm curious to know what the issue is. Is it fundraising burnout? Is it lack of leadership, or that a few leaders are tired of "doing all the work" themselves? All of these problems can be overcome. If the current leaders don't want to run the PTO, they should step aside and let others who are more enthusiastic take over. Theoretically you could start a new parent group (PTO or PTA), but what's the point when you already have an existing structure in place? It seems like starting a rival group is more likely to cause division and hard feelings than simply addressing the problems with the one you've got.
- Craig
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Well...what's happening is, the current president, and about 4 parents are against any involvement from the principal who wants to be involved. As of now, the PTO is 'frozen', the funds 'frozen'. The issue being, that the wrong people are on the bank account in my opinion as well as a few other parents feel. The school secretary is the only one on the account now. The principal had requested she be on it instead of the secretary. The PTO president and the other 4 parents are fighting against it...therefore putting the PTO in a standby status as well as the funds. They keep saying they are going to dissolve it unless someone else steps up. Other parents, myself and about 3 other parents are wanting to move on with the PTO...but with no cooperation from the PTO president and 'her group'. We keep asking for a meeting with them and we cannot get any response from them. So we dont know what to do from here on out.
- UmNoor
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