Death by Committee

Please don't think all PTAs run that way! I have been involved with and on the board of our PTA's (two schools) for many years now and we have never debated hotdog brands or bottled water. Or even anything close. Personally I have had more issues with 'room mom's.' But the stories so far are funny! Coordinating water bottles takes the cake! :)

Oh no...you can't make us derail the lovely PTA members! LOL! Lovemy2boys LOVES her PTA after all.;)Here's the latest decision our "PTA" made that really hacked me off.August - September - Did fundraiser called "Fun Run" where kids got donations based on how many laps they would run on "Fun Run" day. Raised over $60k, so kudos!Where did the money go? Brand new lap tops (top of the line) for pretty much every teacher, administrator & librarian/resource teachers included. The kids got new playground balls.Not one word was mentioned about this designation at the time they advertised for the fundraiser. It was all "help us raise money for our school!" RAH RAH RAH! The reason this hacks me off? We are continuously denied things by the school with the reason of "Sorry, due to budget cuts we can't have salad bar anymore" etc. and they also ask us for office supplies like copy paper, band aids etc. on a regular basis. Uhm...you had 60K and ??????

I read "where kids got donations based on how many "laps" they would run on" - and then realized it wasn't a persons "lap" they would run on...and then when I read where the money went I thought perhaps it would have been worth the money spent on lap tops if the kids actually got to run on the teachers laps... No disrespect meant to any teacher on this forum but seriously the kids did the running - they should get the benefit... D

We're debating window shades. We have an extra 32K, which the school board has requested be put towards general operating budget....but, the PTx seems inclined towards more identified special projects, so they want to buy window shades. We might not be able to meet operating expenses, but hey, there will be nice window shades!

A pastor related a story about when he first arrived and approached the church board about changing the sequence of the service - it turned into a debate, back and forth and never ending - and he watched the old guy sit with his eyes half closed not saying a word until he finally sat up straight and said "let him do it - every new pastor has changed the sequence and you all have the same debate every time". Apparently that ended the meeting...(the old guy was my dad). D

Dickons - ROFL! No lap runs were preformed, I promise!Church is definitely another committee run debacle at times. I was on a few and used to sit there and time the older ladies as they would go back and forth on their arguments. Had fun...;)Heidi - You wait, next it'll be the debate over which material of shades, color, & who will hang them. Oi!

Evidently the key is to not have enough money to be worth arguing/debating about. :) Your 'extra' money is almost three times our annual operating budget! Not much for us to debate! LOL!

I have to say, for a small private school of 160 kids, in a rural area, their ability to fundraise astounds me! On the annual craft fair alone, they bring in about $17K net profit and that is just one of their events! I thought coming from a much bigger private school that I might be able to help with some fundraising expertise, but they have got it going on! And Crick- trust me, they've already started debating those things! From what I've seen, the school committees can get overrun by moms (we do have dads and grandparents) where a few dominant personalities can really exert themselves and want to change everything, whereas with church committees, it's usually the oldest/richest (I hate this, but I've seen it over and over) and they want to change nothing. Totally different dynamics- both capable of causing death by committee (except yours Love, of course!:))

Here is the school thing that made me the craziest. Our old school had a fundraiser, they were selling the wrapping paper and junk. Each child was required to sell at least 12 items. The very cheapest item in the book was 10.00. My friend had four children in the school. Twins and one older and one younger. Her husband had just been laid off work. The children were told not to go door to door. (besides it was a neighborhood school and all the kids were selling the same stuff!) My friends work had a policy against selling stuff at work. My friend and her husband were only children and both sets of grandparents elderly and on fixed incomes. The family was not involved in a church and recently had sold popcorn for boy scouts and cookies for girl scouts and something else for little league to friends. So my friend was leary of selling to freinds. With her husband not working she could not afford to buy 12 things from each child. So no big deal right? The kids don't make the quota. However, instead of giving little cheapo prizes for selling the school had a huge after school party. They filled the gym with inflatables, bounce houses, giant slides, etc. They also had popcorn, cotton candy, sodas, snow cones, etc. They spent the whole day sitting it up. The gym was in the middle of the school and all the classes had to walk past one of the doors to get to the lunch room. So all the kids could see it. Then 30 minutes before school was out they call the names of the kids who were to attend the party over the loud speaker. Those kids got to leave early and go to the party. The other kids had to sit in class for thirty more minutes and then walk past the party to go home. I was livid. My kids did sell enough but chose not to go to the party in support of thier friends. I must not have been the only parent to complain, because they did not do that again.

At J2's previous school, the entire PTx budget was funded by that wrapping/junk catalog so they REALLY pushed it, and did the same party thing, but it was that the kids could choose between: A. Hummer limo ride to Chuck E Cheese for lunch (nothing says class like a Hummer limo pulling up to Chuck E Cheese... :rolleyes: ) or B. time in a Game Trailer, that was essentially a portable arcade. Which is why I am really happy about how this new school does it, which is to focus on events that bring in the community that can be money-makers. They do a great job, but they have a VERY dedicated core of parents who do a TON of work to make it all happen.

Crick, (I'm being totally serious here) do you think you can message me with the 411 on how you all marketed your Fun Run? We only raise $4000 on ours. We are revamping the library with this year's profits. Our PTA used to be really bad. Like really REALLY bad. This year, we have a whole new board, and are trying to bring fun and kindness back to the PTA. It's a loooong hard road. Lots of patience is involved. And alcohol. :arrow: "Our" problem is the people who run the committes can be...challenging. One mom (she heads the teacher lunches) called our PTA prez. because she felt she didn't get enough accolades after the last lunch. She felt she should have gotten a special "thank you" in the school newsletter. I'd like to offer her a "thank you" but it wouldn't be in the realm of "fun and kindness" so I must resist the urge. Ever see the Modern Family episode with the "dance" committee? I kid you not - that is our school. After that episode aired, I got about 20 emails all saying "Can you believe this?" Last month on our agenda, we had to issue a "Please be kind to your volunteers" warning; lead your kids by example. It lasted until today. What's sad is that 5 or 6 parents ruin an entire bunch - but they are the loudest, most obnoxious parents. We're a private school, so our funds do go to the necessities since we receive no other funding than tuition (and our tuition is really rather reasonable). Training courses for the teachers, construction paper for the kids (you wouldn't believe how expensive that is, even when you buy in bulk). We pay for the cable throughout the school, supplies for the teachers, etc. And trust me - every penny is accounted for and spent wisely. We don't earn quite what you all are quoting, so we do have to be money smart. I have to say that it's not easy, and there's that "stigma", but I love it and I really believe in what we do. (Can you hear the music playing in the background?) :eyebrows:

Wow. When did I become such a nerd?

I read this and thought it said "Death On Committee" lol :) It can also be a headline in my newspaper by the time my HS reunion comes around.... my co-chair is a lunatic :arrow:

love- so true! Just a few *ahem* personalities can really spoil the whole bunch. At our last school, the PTx was soooo cliquish and unwelcoming, that even though it was technically "open to all parents", they put all mtgs mid-day so only stay-at-home parents could attend and any random parent that attended got a "what the heck are you doing here?" look. Sad. We got a new board last year and started practically BEGGING for parents to attend, but everyone was so scared off by years and years of the grumpy snobby clique, we only picked up a couple. They still have a LONG way to go to change the nature of things. Brown- lunatic co-chairs are the worst! But....would it be suicide or murder? ;)

Wow, I never realized PTA payed for teachers supplies and stuff like that. Schooling is totally different in my european country of birth. All supplies are paid for by the school with public money(taxes). When you start KG, you bring yourself and that is it. No schoolsupply list for elementary schhol kids. You start buying your supplies when in Highschool (No middle School). PTA does do some fundraisers, but they are mostly for school parties/school fun trips for all the kids. So keep the stories coming, this is getting me prepared.