We have a nice but aggressive Volunteer Coordinator who lines up all of the volunteers for our fundraising events. She believes she should have an executive position on the Board. Our By-laws only list the 5 positions, Pres., 2VP's,Secretary and Treasurer. Can we stick to our bylaws and only allow those positions or do we have to create a new position? We do not want to allow this as she has voiced her desire to "have more power" in the PTA. Any feedback would be great.

If the current executive board isn't interested in creating a new position, they should follow their conscience and not do it, especially for someone who wants it so she can have "more power".

How much time remains on this person's term?

I agree. Adding an executive position just because someone wants one, is kind of silly. What if the next volunteer coordinator DOESN'T think it should be a board position? Will you have to change things again?

The bylaws at our elementary contain a clause that the bylaws will be reviewed every two years. Do yours contain such a clause? Just thinking that could be an out for you on changing them-not set to be reviewed this year.

I agree that adding another board position isn't really worth the hassle.

Have you considered asking her to serve the board in an advisory role? She could submit her written ideas and suggestions while not being given a power position. This could be helpful to all involved as she would feel like she's being given the opportunity to be heard and allows your board to hear her thoughts on her job and see how they work within the group.

Just a thought as it sounds like she wants some attention and to be heard and thinks that the only way to do that it to muscle her way onto the Board.

As you are a PTA you may not have a lot of wiggle room with changing your bylaws. Contact your state PTA office and ask them. If your EIN is under the umbrella of the state PTA, they may tell you it's not an option (or strongly advise against it)...there's your 'out' of having to go through the hassle.

Seems silly to create another elected position just to make one person happy. We all know how difficult it can be to fill those "elected positions". Some years we're begging people to run for an elected position; creating another one now could backfire down the road.

I wouldn't add one just because she wants it, but I'm in favor a large executive board that more comprehensively represents the school population. All too often the Board makes the decisions because not many show up for general meetings. I'd rather that be a group of 10 or 20 than 4 or 5.

The last two PTO's I was involved with had a large Board that included:

The 4 or 5 elected officers
Principal & Vice Principal
Two Teacher Reps
All chairs of standing committeees (this included Vol Coord)
All chairs of ad hoc committees
Parent rep from each grade (6)

So we had a Board of 25-30 people. Our group only had general meetings once per semester, so the Board had all the power/made all the decisions. Therefore we wanted it to be large.