If I came off sounding as if I was blaming this on the Pres. that was not my intention. I do however believe she should have utillized her committee instead of acting like she could do it all- then end up hiding in the kitchen for the most part. There were several parents that asked what they could do to help- they were told "I don't know. Whatever". Its not as if everyone left her high and dry- we have had meetings, we have suggested many didfferent things yeat she decided that she wanted to do things her way instead. See where that got us. When someone refuses to consider ideas especially those that work then parents take a step back. I think this could be the reason so many organizations keep moaning that they have no volunteers. In her defense the teachers present did not offer to help and later told untrue accounts of the situation. Yes I think she should have taken what ever measures needed to make certain the students in her care were safe instead of hiding but thats neither her nor there at this point. And when an event is toted as "leave your kids with us" then that does show she has taken responsibility for them. Yes I wish more parents had helped out- the handful of us who did was not enough. Hopefully she has learned that you can't do it all yourself and will be more willing to ask for help. I support her as I know how hard this job is- I have done it off and on for 10 years and have tried to help her. We all make mistakes and its not her fault that this parent ruined it. And just so you know - an adult did try to help the teenager out and the Pres. told the person she wasnt needed. We have had many events in the past that the Principal has not attended- she gives the authority to the Pres. in her place. She had the so called authority however I think that the teachers should have helped better. If you think a parent (bouncer in the joking sense) is not needed to make sure the kids do not go outside then I'd have to say I disagree. I think all areas should be watched as we do not want a child wandering off.
I'm not looking for any sympathy RobinD- I want to help the Pres. find a way to fight this. The doors have always been able to open- when I say secure I meant that a volunteer should have been stationed to keep the children in the building. And many parents have tried to help with a % of the work and were told time they werent needed. If someone wants to take all the responsibility they need to be able to handle it all. No one person has to as we have volunteers willing to help-if only the Pres. will accept it. And I say shame on you for assuming we were blaming one person. And for the record the Pres. did not do very much to plan the fun- she shopped for pop and cookies. Someone else did the bulk of the decorating. Someone else set up the music. Someone else placed the tables, etc. Had people not stepped up before hand a lot of the FUN would not have been in place. Unfortunately people were made to feel they were in the way.
I think that an event outsid ethe school would go better as the Pres. now seems more willing to accept the help that was offered and we feel that we can turn away anyone we want since it is not on school property. I agree that anyone who reeks of alcohol should be removed- that is the only real complaint I have against the PRes.- she chose to ignore it saying that this parent wouldnt dare act out. I say dont take any chances. We all know how people who drink think they are 10 feet talk and bullet proof. I do not feel I am hiding behind my criticism- I have spoken with the Board and expressed what I felt should have been done and we all hope to work together to strengthen our group. These events have always ran smoothly- if its not broke dont fix it. Unfortunately we learned the hard way that this is so true. Dont come in trying to shake everything up- work with those who have experience and decide if another way would be better instead of taking it upon yourself to make it your way only. Our By Laws do state that the Pres. is to oversee and supervise all PTO sponsored events- she decided she didn't need to call upon the volunteers as we have in the past so in a sense she decided to take on more of the responsibility. This job is not easy as she is learning.
Many of us feel that everyone involved should be banned from future events- we did fine, with no problems for years before these people came along. This includes the Pres.- she did not plan correctly and she was heard cursing in the hallway about the situations too. Had she handled the problem at the beginning
This was probably taken the wrong way and I apologize for not being more specific. The Pres. admits that she could have done things differently and that people heard her cursing. I was not saying that she should be banned- just the parents who were drunk and fighting.
Many of us will continue to try to help her (Pres)- though that too is not always easy. We just want to find a way to rally together. We want to unite as a group and make the BOE and principal see that this was an isolated situation and we will go above and beyond in the future. Unfortunately the principal even refuses to meet with us. The Pres. tried to schedule a meeting to seek removal from our Board on this parent but she was ordered to leave it alone. She's up against a brick wall and we were trying to get advice on what we can do to possibly reverse the decision.
