You have alot of work ahead of you on rebuilding this relationship. It sounds like the 501 was obtained without the district's approval? Is this correct? If so I can see why they are cutting you down, a major decision like that should have been a decision made by everyone. It sort of sounds like it became an "us against them" issue and to rebuild that is tough.
I would caution about going to the local press, that would do no one any good at all. You need to set up a meeting with your principal, superintendent and find out what they need from your group to help mend this. Over all they can make your life miserable and that is why you need to step up and do what is best. Set that meeting up and stay postive!Alot of times people think because they are 501 they can do what ever they want, but in order to be a truly effective parent group that home-school relationship needs to be there.
I feel it is unprofessional and unethical for ANY Principal to decide if a School's Parent Organization is a PTO or PTA. Stop the Press and make this Headliner News in your local paper, Parent Newsletter, E-Blasts etc. The only thing that needs to changed is the administration at your school. Make sure that you document EVERYTHING and whenver their is conversation/meetings held with the Principal, it is more than one parent there. I've dealt with difficult principals before and needless to say OUR Parent Organization was VICTORIOUS.
PresidentJim;140158 wrote: I would recommend meeting with the Principal and voicing your concerns.
Based on what you have said, this may fall on deaf ears, but it should be your first step.
Next would be looking to discuss these issues with the city officials that are in charge of your school system. The Principal has a boss, usually the Superintendant of Schools. There is usually a School Committee, made up of representatives from different wards, along with members at large. These concerns can be raised with these officials.
Another step would be to look at the rules regarding the schools. Often the PTO is written into the guidelines for a system, which may provide you a reference in your discussion with the Principal. For example, in my city there is a specification that indicates that the PTO must control the voting for a school council, which is to be controlled by the Principal, but have equal representation from the parents as there are from staff. Does your school have a council? If so, are there any parents involved?
Thank you both for your suggestions. I think we are going to schedule a face to face meeting with our principal and hopefully a board member or two, in order to try to improve our relationship. I appreciate your insight, and comments. They will be shared with our group.
I would recommend meeting with the Principal and voicing your concerns.
Based on what you have said, this may fall on deaf ears, but it should be your first step.
Next would be looking to discuss these issues with the city officials that are in charge of your school system. The Principal has a boss, usually the Superintendant of Schools. There is usually a School Committee, made up of representatives from different wards, along with members at large. These concerns can be raised with these officials.
Another step would be to look at the rules regarding the schools. Often the PTO is written into the guidelines for a system, which may provide you a reference in your discussion with the Principal. For example, in my city there is a specification that indicates that the PTO must control the voting for a school council, which is to be controlled by the Principal, but have equal representation from the parents as there are from staff. Does your school have a council? If so, are there any parents involved?
I think in most schools the PTO is valued. In our school our PTO was told that we did a great job when money was tight, but now that our referendum has passed we just weren't needed any longer. We weren't happy, but we disbanded. What we found was our administration wanted to control the fundraisers and the money and just didn't want us around to interfere.
This year with the help of this website, our PTO has reformed as a non profit and has even applied for our 501c3 status. This has not set well with the administration. They do not allow us to use the copier (even if we bring our own paper), they make it very difficult to use the facilities on school property, and seem to meet us with opposition whenever possible. Although we have tried to play nice, it is wearing on us. How can we be on opposites sides? All we want is to make our school better for the kids. Has anyone ever had a situation like this? If so, how did you work to make it better? We really would like to get along with our administration. HELP!
