To quit the PTA....again.

[bettycat81]

I strongly believe that our PTA should be open to all members (parents, carers and staff), and that the majority of our meetings should be open for anyone to attend. We should only hold (closed) committee meetings when sensitive subjects need to to be discussed (financial discrepancies etc). We really struggle to gain new members and volunteers and think we should be as welcoming as possible and less clique like.

Our staff rep (who was also on the committee 20 years ago when their child atrended) believes otherwise - that the members elected the committee at the AGM and the committee are now to hunker down and get on with it. Their argument is that members shouldn't know we are buying goods for events for pennies and selling at a profit (we're fundraising - I think that's a given).

We had a tumultuous year last year and this point was a straw to a camels back for me and I resigned but was later asked back and most meetings were open.

I have just become Chair and the argument was brought up again at our last meeting. Our new committee are naive to the formalities and voted with the staff member last night. So now I am faced with Chairing a committee in a direction I fundamentally don't agree with.

AIBU?
I'd be interested to hear how your PTA operate - are your meetings open to all or committee only? Do you think it matters?

You are right op, meetings should be open and minutes taken and published!
Stick to your guns, if they won't listen to you as chair then you have no option but to resign, I have been where you are now and had to say that I was not prepared to be chair unless things were done correctly.
Good luck!

What’s so secretive though? Is there something they are particularly worried about?

I’d take it to the governors and this is a recipient for disaster. And they should know. I can’t actually believe a HT would support this.

As this is a recipe**

@Atalune I can't think of anything.... staff member (non teaching) is very old school and was Secretary many years ago when their now adult child attended the school. I think it is a power trip.

Secretary of PTA

I would be concerned with their wanting such secrecy - what are they trying to hide? It’s a school not a shareholder led business.

I would resign permanently and spend your free time elsewhere.

Their argument is that members shouldn't know we are buying goods for events for pennies and selling at a profit (we're fundraising - I think that's a given).

Hmm... As you say, everyone knows goods are bought wholesale by the PTA and sold for a profit when fundraising.

What sort of things are being sold?
I know that Schools are not allowed to sell stuff on to pupils and make a profit. E.g. A calculator bought by the school for £3.99 cannot be sold for £5.00.

Is this teacher muddling the two up?

this sound extremely formal to me.

Is this primary or secondary?

state or private?

Our state primary PTA is nothing like this.

Minutes have to be circulated and available for anyone who's interested.

All parents are members so she can't shut them out.

13 years on PTA committees here as various office holders.

Minutes available online or at least available on request.
Meetings publicised in advance.

Large spending aims discussed at AGM (eg play trail)
Smaller spending only discussed within committee / those present.

There needs to be openness but you can't manage a PTA by discussing everything with everyone the whole time.

Staff rep should not be one of the office holders and should be there as liaison not to tell the committee how to run.

I'd have a discussion with the head and see if you can reach agreement, and if not then resign.

(ps We wouldn't document fine details like cost of prizes in the minutes anyway. We would document agreement on tickets, and maybe general things like 'aim to sell food at double cost price').

If people care enough to attend / read minutes then it should be encouraged!

We were always desperate for people to come to meetings! How on earth do you get people to come help at events if they aren't allowed to come to meetings about why they are doing so, what you are fundraising etc? As an ex PTA char and now school governor, I would be very concerned about the level of secrecy going on here.

Also - the model constitution from Pta U.K. I'm pretty sure makes it explicit that all parents/guardians are by default association members and are entitled to attend general meetings. She cannot ban them from attending general meetings. It would be bad practise to ban them from committee meetings. How on earth do you recruit new members??

I'd say it's best to resign unless you really, really want to stay on and are prepared for a battle.

Personally I'd be writing a letter/e-mail along the lines of

Dear X
I am sorry to have to resign again so soon after coming back onto the PTA. As you know, I feel strongly that meetings should be open and that minutes should be available/published. From last night's meeting, it is clear that not everyone feels the same way and although I believe that my position is the right one, equally I do not want to be involved in a power struggle when the main aim of the PTA should be supporting the school etc etc.
Please therefore accept this as my official resignation with immediate effect.

Kind regards
XX

Being the chair of anything is a powerful position. You have influence if you are able to use it properly.

I would suggest that resigning will not solve the problem and you will remain annoyed by it for a good while.

It sounds like thr approach has not gone well and there are now people landing on one or other side. I would suggest that you put the issue to one side, get on with the business of the committee and address it piecemeal when it comes up.

Ie in a few meetings time one individual wants to attend, or it is agreed to involve more people for a specific event in a "sub group" etc. Ie approach the problem by stealth, demonstrate the benefits and get more people on side.

If there are new people they might have all sorts of views ocne they are settled in.

Chairing is about leadership skills. Getting voted in then resigning for a second time is not a way of further developing those skills or building relationships, or doing what is best for the school.

Stand tall, you can do it!

OUr committee always have informal meetings but the main meetings are open to all and minuted which are sent round to the whole school for those who want to read them.

I do think the committee inevitably do have "private" meetings but the idea of them being secretive and special is odd. Ours were mostly about working ou who was going to do what, allocating people to write letters/make up posters etc because quite frankly the main meetings didn't generate enough volunteers.

Our meetings are open to all, but usually only committee members attend because no one wants anything to do with the pta.

Our minutes are all available, but I don't think anyone has actually requested them ever. We have recruited around 20 'friends of X school pta' this year, as a new initiative to entice new members. We have a separate WhatsApp chat for them, our committee WhatsApp is only available to people who actually attend meetings.

Is there a PTA chair support thread on here?

Tricky, as it sounds like there is a bit of history behind these discussions.

In principle, the PTA should be open to all and minutes should be freely available. The role of the staff member should be one of advise, communication and liaison. These should be defined in the constitution of the group.

There is no need for all members to have to contribute and approve all of the decisions made by the elected committee and meetings for the committee only are a good idea for reasons of efficiency. Can you make these meetings open for members but exclude the staff member from them?

What did the vote actually say? Is there any way that you can live with it and direct the group in the way you would like it to run?

Thank you all. I have spoken with a parent governor asking for advice in how to proceed. I also spoke with Parentkind who have confirmed my position.

Through both I now have a plan to go forward.

Our PTA is open and are always begging for people to join. It's very parent lead as even thought it's pTa the teachers don't bother to get involved, the head attends rarely and only when he has, to.

All minutes from the meetings are published on the school website for anyone to read.

It's good you've got a plan OP hope everything turns out OK.

OP, you might enjoy the Radio 4 comedy 'Quiz Night' that has just aired today at 11:30am. A PTA committee in action...

Thank you @Teen I caught it on the sounds app! Just what I needed!

Ours are open to all, although the previous committee was perceived as a bit cliquey and meetings at their own houses, so it didn't SEEM open to all.

That having been said, nobody comes either way!

When DS1 started reception I volunteered to join the PTA. I assumed the more the merrier and they'd be grateful. After volunteering I was sent a job description(which included things like 'must be of a friendly dispposition' etc...) and application form asking me to describe how I met all the requirements of the job description!!

I was completely put off and have never bothered volunteering for anything since!! I mean, all I wanted to to do was help at a few bake sales, stick up.some posters and perhaps help raise some money!! I was hardly applying for a position as a rocket scientist or something! It was horrible!

The plan is not working. I broke it down as there seemed to be a misunderstanding in the role of the committee which lead to desire to close down meetings. I have explained it all, checked with several people outside the school community to make sure what I have written is clear and understandable....and they still don't/won't get it.

I think you should put something in writing to the head, the chair of govs and chair of the PTA, the LA expressing your concerns.

GOOD LUCK.

I was very keen to get involved with the PTA when my son started school. And on the face of it, the PTA were keen for people to be involved. What they actually wanted were lackeys to make tea at the school fayre without any critical input to the running of the PTA. When I joined they stopped having meetings, appointed a co-chair without any election and just made decisions amongst the clique via whatsapp. I got blocked after I questioned using 1k for a disco instead of a new projector which is what the school needed.

They still put the odd request for volunteers on Facebook but I always warn friends against it.