We also are very fortunate about our school reps attending. Our principal, vice principal, and two teacher reps attend every Board meeting. Rarely do they allow conflicts to interfere.
In fact, our meeting was tonight and yesterday the Vice Principal sought me out to explain she would have to miss. Turns out her daughter plays basketball on Tuesdays, but she has skipped the games when they coincide with a PTO meeting. However, tonight was the final game and the last year her daughter will play, so the Vice Principal felt she had to go. (Of COURSE she should go!) But it was so sweet how she apologized over and over again for having to miss.
Like Crystal, our Principal has a spot on the agenda right after my opening remarks. He, too, can be a bit lengthy in his comments, but we still enjoy what he has to share.
We try to have one teacher rep for the upper grades (i.e. 4th or 5th) and one from the lower grades if possible. We recently lost one teacher rep do to a meeting conflict. The replacement we invited is a first year kindergarten teacher and she is SO excited to be joining us! We are very lucky.
I have to say, I am impressed that the principal's that involved/visible. We're doing good to have ANY school staff attend our meetings. I don't know if I've ever seen a teacher attend one of our General Assembly Meeting!
SAC
Our Principal tries to attend all of our meetings and has a regular spot on the agenda..."Principal's Remarks". He lets the group know what is going on at the school as well as district information. The only downfall to him being there is he is a very "windy" man who explains everything in GREAT detail. Everyone knows this and often kids him about it. He is very important to our meetings because for new parents coming it gives our group more validity to have him as well as the teachers there...without them it would appear to be just a parent group. He supports our group without stepping on toes and it a great advisor if we need him to be.
Our principal is on the executive board and goes to each meeting. She usually has a spot on the agenda. No matter how involved the PTO is, the principal still has final say on anything that goes on in the school.
Our Principal is also a board member and while she is not able to attend ever meeting as the school board meeting is held before ours, she does proof read our newsletter and keeps involved in many of the little aspects of the group. What is intresting, she is upset with teachers right now as not one have been to any of the meetings this year!
Anyway, in other postings many have expressed issues with their principal's involment but as JHB stated- the principal is the ultimate responsible one here.
Think of it this way, you may have caught your PTO on a unusal night! It happens!
We find that we need the interaction of both -sometimes formally, sometimes informally. And it also depends on WHAT is being discussed or decided.
The principal really is the official representative of the school. His participation is key. Just because teachers want something or agree doesn't mean it's necessarily going to happen. (But their input is important.) By the same token, the few times we end up with teachers and the principal taking really opposite views, the teachers are reluctant to voice their opinions in front of the Principal (He IS their boss.)
Our group has monthly business (i.e. Board) meetings, and only two general meetings a year. (Anyone is welcome at the Business meeting, but we don't get many visitors.) The Princpal and Vice Principal are both Board members and attend every meeting. We also have two teacher reps on the Board. We all get along well, so the meetings are pretty productive. But sometimes I still have to go to the teachers informally and find out what they REALLY think.
The principal is going to understand the policies a lot better and should be objective about the school as a whole. Sometimes teachers are unwittingly biased towards their own grade, and they don't know the BUSINESS of running the school. But their participating is vitally important as well.
