Leslie C.

Boggs
National PTA President

May 20, 2020

This letter is CONFIDENTIAL FOR BOARD AND OFFICERS OF MARYLAND PTA only.

Maryland PTA Board of Directors

Dr. Edna Harvin-Battle, President

Dear Maryland PTA:

This is notice that Maryland PTA is out of compliance with the National PTA Standards of Affiliation
(SOA) and has been placed in the Probation Phase of Noncompliance. This action is based on the
document entitled National PTA Standards of Affiliation (SOA) Policy Document, Trademarks section,
which states, “State constituent associations will take no action that will diminish the value and goodwill
associated with the PTA Trademarks.”

National PTA has received numerous communications from members and leaders of Maryland PTA
asking National PTA to intercede on their behalf. The leaders who contacted us represent more than
two-thirds of the local PTAs in Maryland and more than seventy-five percent of the Maryland’s PTA
membership. These members and leaders are also National PTA members. The breadth and scope of our
members’ concerns are serious matters that must be addressed by National and Maryland PTAs. Their
concerns include but are not limited to:
• Operating outside of the Maryland PTA Bylaws in areas such as role of the board of directors vs.
role of the executive committee; compliance with the parliamentary authority, Robert’s Rules of
Order Newly Revised; and electing officers who do not meet the criteria for service per the
bylaws;
• Frequent and high turn-over among board members as a result of a hostile board environment,
frequent special meetings, and an assumed directive of loyalty to the Maryland PTA president
rather than to Maryland PTA and its members;
• Failing to seek professional legal guidance that will allow PTAs to operate and hold elections
during the current COVID-19 situation;
• Condoning rude and disrespectful behavior and communication toward council and local PTA
leaders;
• Lack of regular communication with PTA council leaders and ignoring their needs and the needs
of their local PTAs;
• Adopting policies that conflict with National PTA’s mission;
• Conducting special meetings that do not meet the parameters in Robert’s Rules of Order Newly
Revised;
• Preventing board members from fulfilling their fiduciary responsibilities by providing insufficient
notice for meetings; and
• Blocking board members from completing the duties of their positions by refusing to provide
access to essential resources.
The PTA leaders who contacted us expressed distrust in Maryland PTA’s leadership and threatened to
dissolve units. In more than one case, a council expressed interest in splitting from Maryland PTA and
working directly with National PTA. The evident harm to the PTA name and loss of goodwill cannot be
allowed to continue. While National PTA believes it has cause to revoke the charter of Maryland PTA, we
would prefer to work with Maryland PTA leadership to repair the damage being done. We have decided
to move Maryland PTA into the Probation Phase of noncompliance. In accordance with the SOA Policy,
Resource B, Non-Compliance Procedures, this letter serves as Maryland PTA’s Notice of Probation.

A. National PTA has assigned a support team to offer solutions, guidance, and oversee Maryland
PTA’s activities and progress towards compliance. The support team is composed of Anna King,
Shaton Berry, Wayne Bauman, and Sharon Goldblatt (lead), who can be reached at 214-437-
1893 and shgdancer@verizon.net. National PTA requires all communication with the support
team to include a copy to soa@pta.org.
B. National PTA requires the Maryland PTA Board of Directors to develop and submit a written
Action Plan in consultation with the assigned support team and to submit that plan to both the
support team lead and to soa@pta.org by June 15, 2020. The Action Plan must be approved by
National PTA.
C. The Action Plan must include milestones, including but not limited to the list provided below.
Additional information about action plans can be found in the Non-Compliance Procedures
document:
1. Verifying that all Maryland PTA officers were elected properly and meet the
qualifications required to serve in their positions. If the officers holding office are not
qualified or were not elected properly, then the plan must include steps to review all
meeting quorums, motions and votes in which those officers were involved and to
rectify any issues that may arise from their actions by June 30, 2020.
2. Removing the parts of the Maryland PTA Conflict of Interest Policy that conflict with
National PTA’s mission to serve all children, specifically restricting the inclusion of board
members whose children do not attend public school. This review must be completed
and any changes made accordingly by June 30, 2020.
3. Ensuring a process is in place to provide proper notice of all special meetings, as per
Maryland PTA Bylaws and Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised by June 30, 2020.
4. Creating a process that ensures board members have opportunity to review all meeting
materials well in advance of the meetings by July 31, 2020.
5. Creating a procedure that ensures special meetings are conducted in compliance with
the parliamentary authority, so that special meetings deal with only “matters that may
arise between regular meetings and that require action by the society before the next
regular meeting, or to dedicate the entire session to one or more particular matters”
and “only business … which has been specified in the call of the meeting” as per Robert’s
Rules of Order Newly Revised by June 30, 2020.
6. Opening regular, two-way, and meaningful communications with all council leaders and
establishing a cooperative working environment in which council leaders’ concerns are
addressed by July 31, 2020.
7. Clearly differentiating the work of the board of directors and the work of the executive
committee, as well as who is permitted to participate, in alignment with the Maryland
PTA Bylaws by August 31, 2020.
8. Ensuring that procedures are in place to maintain compliance with the National PTA
Standards of Affiliation by August 31, 2020.
Because of the perceived damage to the value and goodwill of the PTA brand, National PTA makes these
additional demands of Maryland PTA during its Probation Phase:
A. The support team must receive all meeting notices and agendas at least one week in advance of
the meeting, as well as minutes and other meeting documents.
B. At least two members of the support team must be present at all regular and special board of
directors and executive committee meetings and must be given voice. National PTA strongly
recommends that Maryland PTA’s Board of Directors and Executive Committee members heed
the support team’s guidance to avoid restructure or revocation.
C. Maryland PTA will not fill a position or remove any board members without National PTA
approval during this Probation Phase. Any elected or appointed board members who have been
removed within the last 14 days must be reinstated.

In addition, National PTA requests that Maryland PTA work with their attorney to find a path forward for
local PTAs to be able to hold electronic meetings and elections. Other state PTAs have achieved this goal.
On March 26, 2020, information was provided to state PTAs in the March Timely Updates sent by me.
Included in that communication was the following, “Nonprofits, such as PTA, are looking at following
laws of the land over their bylaws. The environment has changed. We can no longer meet face-to-face,
which then begs the question on annual meetings and elections. After visiting with our legal counsel and
parliamentarian, here is what we learned: In common law, the cy pres doctrine says that a legal
requirement or a bylaw requirement cannot be enforced when the organization is not able to do it. The
organization is charged with doing ’the next best thing.’ There is lots of precedent on this in the
aftermath of Hurricane Katrina….” This information was reiterated in a video which can be found at
PTA.org/COVID19 in the PTA Leader section. National PTA requires Maryland PTA to notify its
constituent associations that they are reevaluating their position on electronic meetings and elections in
response to numerous inquiries from local and council PTAs. This notice must be sent by May 29, 2020.
National PTA requires Maryland PTA to share their attorney’s written guidance on holding electronic
meetings and elections and work with National PTA to communicate its updated guidance to its
constituent associations by June 12, 2020.

Note that per the SOA Policy, Non-Compliance Procedures, Probation Phase section, “failure to comply
with probation requirements or lack of cooperation and communication with the assigned
representative or support team or causing damage to the value and goodwill associated with the PTA
Trademark and brand may result in the National PTA terminating the Probation Phase and directing
that the state constituent association be moved to the Restructuring or Revocation Phase. This
notification may be made at any time, regardless of whether any specified time period has passed.”

Per the SOA Policy, “probation includes the forfeiture of the following privileges and any additional
privileges the National PTA determines should be forfeited:
1. Funding to attend National PTA meetings and events as may be specified in the National PTA
bylaws and/or budget;
2. Eligibility to receive benefits from sponsored gifts or rewards and to participate in
sponsorship/members-only programs;
3. Eligibility to receive grants or program participation/incentive funds from National PTA;
4. Eligibility to request and receive official representation assigned by National PTA at the state
constituent association’s annual meeting/convention or other statewide event once every two
years; and
 5. Eligibility to participate in National PTA awards and other programs, including the PTA Reflections
program at a national level.”

Please note the SOA Policy states, “During the Probation Phase, the state constituent association’s local
constituent associations shall be entitled to all benefits of their membership with National PTA.”

Maryland PTA will remain in the Probation Phase of Noncompliance until the sooner of the following:
December 31, 2020 or until compliance with the Standards of Affiliation is achieved or until National PTA
informs Maryland PTA that the Probation Phase has ended. Maryland PTA may request an extension of
the Probation Phase and is advised to review the National PTA SOA Policy procedures for submitting an
extension request. Per policy, if an extension request is submitted, National PTA will review the
documentation submitted and notify Maryland PTA if the extension is approved.

National PTA’s goal is to help address the issues and questions of Maryland PTA members, restore trust
to Maryland PTA, and maintain the focus on the PTA mission. Neither National PTA nor Maryland PTA
want to lose units or councils or see a decrease in membership due to the concerns stated by Maryland
PTA leaders and members. It is in everyone’s best interests to work together to restore the value and
goodwill associated with the PTA name and Trademark in Maryland. Failure to do so will constitute harm
to the PTA brand, and harm to both Maryland and National PTAs, which National PTA cannot allow.

Thank you for your attention to this matter, and thank you for all you do for PTA.

Note: On May 18, we sent an email to President Harvin-Battle asking for a personal home address. We
have not received a response as of this date. We will send a copy via mail if President Harvin-Battle
provides a home address.

Sincerely,

Leslie Boggs
President, National PTA