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This article is part of the following categories:
Committees President Secretary Treasurer Vice President Volunteer Coordinator


16 Tips for Executive Board Members

What you should know about representing your parent group in the community, tips for working with school support staff, and secrets for a successful transition.

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by Christy Forhan

5 Things You Should Know About Representing Your PTO in the Community

  1. Always introduce yourself.
  2. Don’t speak on behalf of the school. You might have a great rapport with the principal, but you are not an official representative. Refer school questions to the principal; they are not PTO business.
  3. Don’t share your personal opinions on issues. When you are in your official role, speak on behalf of the PTO as a whole.
  4. Be polite.
  5. Give credit where credit is due.

4 Essential Tips for Working With School Support Staff

  • Introduce yourself. It will be easier to ask the custodian, secretary, school aide, and audiovisual technician for help later if you introduce yourself today.
  • Learn their names—and call them by name.
  • Respect their school jobs. Remember that their primary responsibility is to the school. They are not there to do PTO grunt work. If you need substantial help from school staff, clear it with the principal first.
  • Include them in staff appreciation events.

7 Secrets for Transitioning Your Office

  1. Clean out and organize your old files.
  2. Then hand over the files.
  3. Train your successor side by side.
  4. Introduce her around the school.
  5. Share your best advice (and worst experiences) about the job.
  6. Be accessible in the new year.
  7. But don’t hover; it’s her job now.

Rate This Article

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7 Comments

  1. Posted by anne carmody on Mar. 10, 2008

    Our PTO president of 4 years is ending her term this year. The PTO would like to pay for a dinner for her out of PTO funds. Is this an acceptable use of PTO money?

  2. Posted by Craig Bystrynski on Mar. 10, 2008

    Hi Anne -- That's a nice idea and an acceptable use of funds, as long there's agreement on the expenditure. We also strongly recommend that you find a public way to express thanks to all of your volunteers, whether they contributed an hour or many, many hours. It's important to let people know that you value everyone's contribution. There are good ideas for volunteer appreciation in our Volunteer & Teacher Appreciation toolkit (ptotoday.com/toolkits), and there are always folks willing to share appreciation ideas on the message boards. Good luck! -- Craig

  3. Posted by JC on Mar. 18, 2008

    Officer Training - Does your pto pay for officers to go to training/workshops?

  4. Posted by Lynn on May. 06, 2008

    Our school has a volunteer breakfast toward the end of the school year. The PTO provides the paper goods and the teachers are asked to provide the breakfast items. Its a great event and all the teachers are more than willing to assist with honoring the volunteers.

  5. Posted by Michelle on Jun. 18, 2008

    We did for the first time an end of the year volunteer dinner that was catered. Many appreciated it more then the trinket gifts. We needed an event in the evening due to the majority of our volunteers having full time jobs.

  6. Posted by Patty on Jul. 23, 2008

    One of our parents no longer have kids that attend the school, but would like to continue on the board. Are there any bylaws against this? Please help!

  7. Posted by Craig Bystrynski from PTO Today on Jul. 23, 2008

    Hi Patty--Bylaws differ from group to group. Check yours to see whether they define a member as someone who has a child in the school or put limits on who can be an officer. If you don't find any restrictions, then there's no prohibition against letting that board member stand for reelection.--Craig

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