Hi,
My children are going on their 2nd year at this school. We love it and have had nothing but great things become of our move, but I need some help pretty please!!! I was asked to be the PTO president for this school year, I don't know why they asked me but I was very flattered. I have read the pto today magazine and gotten a few tips and info. We are having our first meeting tomorrow evening and I am nervous about what to say, do and, well just all of this stuff. I know my goals and my expectations. I want to help the schoool and get more parental involvment than ever.,,,but I guess I don't know exactly how to say it to a LARGE crowd????? I was just thrown into this spot without any warning or advice and I want to change the way PTO is ran..I am a organized person and want to set a good example for the other parents and officers that are in PTO. Is there anyone out there that can help me or tell me their story. I would appreciate it so much and I know our school would benefit from your help. President of PTO waiting for advice.... )

I was just going to post a similar plea... I am the new president also, and tomorrow night is my first meeting, I am nervous mainly that parents won't attend!! I would love some advice on how to run the meeting, keep people from talking too much, etc... GOOD LUCK!!

Thank you and good luck to you as well.. I have been scanning htru the discussion forum jotting down notes and idea...give that a try! Make a meeting agenda maybe??????Im doing htat I hope its a good idea! lET ME KNOW HOW IT GOES FOR YOU OK?

First, congratulations and compliments to both of you for being willing to take this on. Your schools need willing parents like yourselves.

As far as the meeting - especially a large one - your audience will probably like it best if you keep it short and sweet. Use an agenda, be as organized as possible, speak sincerely, and the rest will come.

I've found that parents (for the most part) are not afraid of helping. However, they are afraid of being asked to attend lots of meetings and of being sucked in beyond the committment they are prepared to give. Make sure to emphasize that there's a place for everyone. While you gladly welcome the person who's willing to coordinate a project, you also need the ones who can send cookies or just donate an hour.

While you want to expand volunteerism, don't scare them off by making it sound like this year will be a whole new plan. Emphasize what things worked before, how important volunteer efforts were, and how well the parents responded. Then talk about building on that wonderful foundation. Regardless what the previous year was like, it seems like the crowd usually doesn't really want to rally to a crusade. (Crusades are a lot of work!) They'd rather just go with the flow. Make them understand they are already part of a good thing that will flourish and grow with their help.

This site will provide invaluable assistance. Hopefully you'll draw on the experience of your predessors at your own school, as well as the new friends you'll make in this Forum.

Tools like "Roberts Rules of Order", a strong agenda, and good meeting skills will help your meetings be efficient.

Good luck to both of you.

Definitely have an agenda, it makes things go much more smoothly and you won't miss covering any topics. You can even make a simple agenda that you can distribute to attendees so they will know what is going to be discussed. The first meeting of the year is more informational and casual so people can get comfortable with the structure and get a better understanding of what the PTO does and what we need to accomplish for the year.
When I was first elected President last year(reelected this year), I sat down and thought of all the things I liked and didn't like about how the meetings were handled. I then made a plan of how I would like to see things done(I am also very organized, have a degree in business management)At the first board meeting, I presented the ideas and we all worked out a new structure for the meetings. Basically, we went from discussing every topic at length during the general meetings to handling the discussion during board meetings and presenting recommendations at the general meetings. We allow about 5 mins of discussion for any topic within the general meeting and then go for the vote. It really shortened the meetings! We had to get approval for this new structure at the first meeting but it didn't take much convincing because everyone was pretty tired of the neverending meetings we used to have.
I guarantee you will get approval for just about anything that will make meetings shorter! Just make sure YOU don't take too long speaking. I try to act as a facilitator. I'm up there to open the topic, relay the board recommendations, keep discussion under control and keep folks focused on what we need to get done. Good luck and have a great year!

An excellent idea is to also have the parlimentarian and the 1st VP nearby. I always recommend the parliamentarian be by the presidents side. Remember though that the parliamentarian is silent except to the president - since they do need to keep the actions in place.

If you choose to have your business topics covered in 5-10 minute increments and there is a discussion on the floor that exceeds that time frame, the 1st VP can raise their hand, at which time you address that person, and they make a motion to table the discussion about BLANK BLANK. Then someone else seconds the motion, and with no further discussion you all vote to table the item of BLANK BLANK. Then at another meeting you have to vote to bring the BLANK BLANK discussion from the table and reopen it for discussion - if that is what you want to do - it may remain tabled for several meetings thought too and not be brought back if not desired by the membership.

Also, you may wish to address the membership on a couple of simple parlimentary procedures. The meeting will so smooth and flow properly - if the membership remembers and the parliamentarian reminds them, that no one speaks on the floor till they raise their hand and are addressed by the president.

Rembember, kindness will take you much further than confrontation. If members in the audience are speaking while the president is speaking and they are disrupting the meeting, the president can pause, look at them and address that area of the audience - by ask ing them to please keep their thoughts quite until they are asked the speak, or if they wish to go outside and carry on their personal conversation they may do so now. If they do not rise to leave, simply thank them for their time, and move on with the meeting. Your audience will appreciate your positive leadership and feel you are prepared for the meeting.