I also am a first time president of a PTO. If I were you I would see if there are by-laws for your PTO. If you do not have any by-laws I would make creating by-laws my first priority. Our by laws clearly out line PTO's objectives and duty discriptions(along with election information etc.)
Once you have your by-laws in place (voted on by your membership-majority rules)they will guide your organization and keep it on track. As far as going to the teachers- you are right on!! Our PTO makes every effort to make the teacher's life easier. The children are the ones who benefit from teachers who are less stressed!

First, I want to commend you on volunteering to help your students and your school. Then I want to say that there is one in every group. I have been told I'm too pro-teacher/pro-school to be the president. I looked them straight in the eye and said "DUH...". Our bylaws are very clear that we are an organization whose purpose is to provide items, programs and/or activities that the school would not normally be provided for by the school district or would not be provided due to lack of funds. We have programs like Red Ribbon Week (aka Drug Prevention Week) that now stretch out all year with PTVO funding. We have provided an Artist In Residence program with the help of a grant from the Arizona Commission On The Arts. We provide matching funds and the supplies. We provided Pioneer Days (2 full days of pioneer living displays that the children can interact with). We provide Staff Appreciation gifts (we make them, but PTVO provides the materials), we purchased Christmas decor for the halls (purchased during the after Christmas sales). We provided Principal List (All A's All Subjects) prizes, Honor Roll prizes AND extended the prize giving to include students who are doing their best but cannot obtain PL or HR grades. We provide coat/clothing/shoe drives for our children first and the community second. We purchased new 6'X 8' bulletin boards for our hallways so that our children's work could be displayed without stapling the hallway paneling. Getting some ideas? Regarding the problem parent I would do a couple things: 1) Make him/her the chairperson of the "Taking Sick Kids To The Doctor After You Have Parental Permission Slips and District Approval" committee...lol.. 2) I would tell him/her to bite me (how crass) and finally, I would wait for a few more responses in this discussion, give the parent in question the web address so that they can read other PTO/PTA responses to their ridiculous querry. :eek: [img]tongue.gif[/img] [img]tongue.gif[/img]

Boy there is always one ridiculous person in every group...perhaps you could suggest to the Mom who wants someone to take her sick child to the doctor that maybe she is in the wrong group and that a parenting skills course would be right up her alley... Seriously though I feel you are right on track, it is the teachers who know what the kids need when they are at school not the parents. Of course our PTO does extra fun stuff that does not involve teacher input but when it comes down to the children's needs verses their wants the teachers are really the only resource. For all the complaining parents your response should be that your PTO is completely focused on the school as a whole and the breakdown is students come first and you hope that with great teacher input and parent support/volunteers that your group can give the kids a better school experience. Parents who don't feel this way will soon lose interest anyway. It should be made clear up front that your organization is not a "Mommies Club" and you are a serious business. Hang in there and keep a happy smile and you'll do just fine...Killing them with kindess also helps

Hi Everybody!! I've volunteered to be the president of a brand new PTO. Unfortunately, our school hasn't had one in a very long time, so we are starting out blind. From what I understand, the school tried to start one a couple of years ago, (I think I remember getting one half sheet of paper announcing it), but nobody ever showed up (including me)!! However, I've finally wised up and thankfully we have a pretty good, although small, group of parents who are willing to give it another try! Anyways, since it's so close to the end of the school year, I think it's important that we just try to get things ready and organized for next year. In order to do that, I suggested that we get input from the TEACHERS FIRST!! That way, we could ask them what they think are the most critical things that a brand new PTO should try to accomplish! We generated a letter asking all teachers to list 3-5 things they think are key, and also days and times when it's okay for a volunteer to come into their class to listen to a student read, etc, etc.

Well, here's the kicker...several of the other parents (some of whom were not even at the first meeting), are saying that I should be focusing more on what to do for the PARENTS FIRST!!! I even had one parent tell me that we should get a committee together to take kids to doctor's appointments if the parent said it's okay! First of all, I don't think it's the PTO's responsibility to take someone else's kids to the doctor! I can barely find the time to take my own three kids, much less anyone elses! Second, I thought the purpose of the PTO is to get parents MORE INVOLVED with the teachers and students, not give them an excuse to become LESS INVOLVED with their kids. Well, I was blasted and told that the only reason I want to worry about helping the teachers make their job any easier is because I'm studying to be one myself!!

Am I going about this all wrong or what? Whom should I get input from first? The teachers or the parents?

Any advice ya'll could give me would be greatly appreciated!!