That's good advice. I think I'll have a word with the President. I feel it's best to be above board and let the general membership know what's going on. In turn, they will appreciate the transparency and feel better knowing what's being done to ensure the Board is doing things properly.
Not sure why the principal gets to decide this was a secret meeting, because if you are a PTA you are a separate legal entity, and she may or may not even be an officer of the organization.
Anyway, it sounds like there was a valid election and there were minutes of the meeting where the election was held, so there is an appropriate record of that.
With this other meeting, it's not clear exactly what this was and how big an issue it really was about. If it was an official, properly called Board meeting, there should be minutes. They don't have to rehash all the details. It can just be as simple as "the Board met to discuss allegations of impropriety in the last election. "Susie Smith," a representative of "regional PTA" was available to review the election procedures. After discussion, the Board concluded that there were no improprieties and the results of the election stand. No further action is necessary." Not sure what the harm in that would be. And it sounds like maybe someone should go back to the person who complained and close the loop with her.
Our school PTA had a contentious Board election where one party said that there was foul play and the election was illegal. Long story short, our regional PTA got involved and sorted the whole thing out. The election was fair and above board, so it stands. The problem is that the Board had a whole meeting where they hashed this out, but there are no minutes (nor will there be) for the general membership to read. So, there's no record that there was a problem with this election or that regional PTA oversaw the process. From what I understand the principal decided this was a secret meeting, and so no notes will be posted.
Is this allowed? I like the idea of a PTA Board that reports everything to its membership, warts and all. It also would provide a record for those parents who were told the election was rigged.
