Parent Teacher Organizations are nonprofit organizations that exist to support schools.  They have historically consisted of parents and staff members who work together to improve all sorts of things for schools.  The Palominas School District Governing Board states that it was informed by an auditor that in order to protect itself from liability, it must restrict its staff from serving on PTO Boards.  On December 11th, the Governing Board passed a policy that prevents staff members from serving on PTO Boards.  This policy effectively forces staff members to choose between their jobs or serving on a PTO Board. 

The District listed two reasons for this policy:

1.  It is a conflict of interest for teachers/staff to serve on PTO boards.  They may have access to PTO funds and vote on items that can personally enrich them.

2.  The District may be held liable for any bad deeds of teachers/staff while acting as a PTO Board member. 

First, any conflict of interest that might arise is handled by a conflict of interest policy.  The District is concerned about teachers voting in a manner that enriches them.  Enriching schools is the business of PTOs. Teachers are not voting on items that can personally enrich them such as staff pay or contracts, they are voting on items that enrich the school and classrooms.  And if a vote by the PTO means more resources for a classroom, it is really the students that are being enriched, not the teachers.

Second, the District is no more liable for a hypothetical bad act committed by a teacher on a PTO than it would be if that teacher committed a bad act as a board member of his church or a food pantry.  There is no risk of the District being held liable simply because a staff member is a member of the PTO.

Even after being informed by their own lawyer that it is in a District's good interest to encourage staff participation on PTOs, the District refuses to consider rewriting this policy or overturning it altogether.  It has made the decision to let this policy stand.  There is no justifiable reason to let this policy stand.  But there are many good reasons to rewrite it.  Staff members have the right to choose how and where to serve their community and this policy is harmful to our local PTOs and the relationship between those PTOs and the District.  As a result, one school's PTO has already lost a board member who was forced to resign by the District.  This has caused great strain on that PTO organization as a whole.   Please sign this petition to show that you stand with our teachers and their right to choose to participate in PTOs, even as a board member, without having to choose between serving on a PTO or working in the District.