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Officer and Chairman Job Descriptions have been developed by California State PTA for use by unit, council, and district PTAs. These guidelines are meant to assist officers and chairmen in their duties throughout the term of office. The list includes the required president, secretary and treasurer officer Job Descriptions and numerous others.

The job descriptions typically are distributed to members of the board-elect at the beginning of a term for planning purposes and are used with the updated procedure books forwarded by the outgoing officers and chairmen. PTAs are encouraged to develop job descriptions and procedure books for other PTA positions to provide continuity and sound leadership practices.

Download the Volunteer Coordinator Job Description

Key Role – Volunteer Coordinator

• Works with the PTA president, principal and teachers to coordinate volunteer assignments at the school to support student success
• Collaborates with other PTA board members, teachers and administrators to assess and identify how parents/guardians and community members can get more involved at school as volunteers
• Oversees volunteer recruitment, training and assignments
• Promotes PTA goals, membership and activities as a PTA committee chairman or officer

Getting Started

• Preparation – Talk to the Coordinator from last year to ask questions and exchange ideas about how volunteer recruitment, training and retention is handled and how it can be made even better. Review his/her procedure book and other materials such as school policies and requirements for volunteers to better understand the scope of your new position.
• Assessment – Get together with your PTA president, principal and lead teachers or department heads to identify the ways and options available for parents/guardians and community members to assist as volunteers with PTA and school programs, activities and events for the upcoming year. Develop a general list of volunteer opportunities to publicize widely in your school community.

How Tos

• Outreach – Design and implement an inclusive outreach plan to introduce yourself and provide a general overview of the value of volunteers and what type of volunteer opportunities and options are available for the upcoming school year.
• Options – Offer a variety of options for volunteers with different amounts of time and commitment involved. Options to sign up for might range from one-time only assignments to monthly, weekly or daily volunteer activities to meet the goals, needs and priorities of your PTA or school in supporting student success.
• Train – Hold a volunteer orientation at the start of the school year. Provide handouts for the meeting with job descriptions and tips on volunteering. Include information on school policies for volunteers, school and PTA calendars and contact information for the PTA board. Invite your PTA president and principal to the meeting to welcome volunteers and talk about their vital role at your school.
• Contacts – Oversee the assignment of volunteer jobs and maintain a list or database with the names, contact information, availability and interests of volunteers to contact during the year. Provide sign-in sheets for all PTA sponsored activities to record volunteer hours for the Annual Report submitted by the Historian to your PTA council/district.
• Connect – As a PTA chairman or officer, keep everyone in the loop by regularly promoting opportunities for volunteers and providing reports at PTA meetings. Thank volunteers publicly in PTA communications and at a special recognition event to celebrate the power of volunteer engagement.

Other Useful Information

• Chairman and Committee Procedures, Programs, California State PTA Toolkit

 Learn more: capta.org

Download the Job Description for Room Representative Coordinator

Key Role – Room Representative Coordinator

• Works with the PTA president, principal and teachers to coordinate Room Representatives at the school to build stronger family-school partnerships to support student success
• Collaborates with other PTA board members, teachers and administrators to identify how parents can get more involved at school
• Oversees the recruitment and training for parent volunteers as Room Representatives for a classroom or grade level
• Promotes PTA goals, membership and activities on campus as a committee chairman or officer

Getting Started

• Preparation – Talk to the Coordinator from last year to ask questions and exchange ideas about what parent involvement looks like at your school and how it can be made even better. Review his/her procedure book and other materials such as school policies on volunteers and parent involvement to better understand the scope of your new position.
• Assessment – Get together with your PTA president, principal and lead teachers or department heads to identify the ways and options available for parents to assist with classroom activities, field trips and school events for the upcoming year. Develop a general list of volunteer opportunities to share with Room Representatives to help them get started.

How Tos

• Contacts – Maintain a list or database with the names and contact information of Room Representatives. Work with school staff to obtain this information for PTA use only and remember to keep it confidential.
• Welcome – Develop and implement an outreach plan to introduce yourself, welcome Room Representatives in home languages and provide a general overview of why parent involvement matters and what it looks like at your school.
• Train – Hold a Room Representative orientation at the start of the school year. Provide handouts for the meeting with job descriptions and tips on how to promote inclusion so all families feel welcome and encouraged to get actively involved at school. Include information on school policies, school and PTA calendars and contact information for the PTA board, teachers and other Room representatives in the orientation packets. Invite your PTA president and principal to the meeting to welcome everyone and talk about the important role of Room Representatives at your school.
• Connect – As a PTA committee chairman or officer, keep everyone in the loop by holding committee meetings of Room Representatives, facilitating grade level information meetings for parents and providing reports at PTA meetings during the school year.

Other Useful Information

• Chairman and Committee Procedures, Programs, California State PTA Toolkit

Learn more: capta.org

 

Assisting with activities organized by your PTA, school or classroom teacher supports student learning and achievement in schools.

Stepping up as a volunteer also signals to your child how much your family values education and actively supports the efforts of teachers and the school to nurture students’ learning, development and growth.

How much time and commitment is involved depends on your availability. It can range from one time only assignments to monthly, weekly or daily volunteer activities such as helping to:

• Tutor and mentor students
• Supervise lunchrooms, playgrounds and field trips
• Assist in a class, library or school office
• Enrich classroom learning by sharing a special skill, talent or experience
• Plan or run a PTA or school program, activity or event
• Prepare classroom materials, mailings or newsletters at home
• Manage PTA websites and social media at home
• Coordinate class phone calls, texts and emails to other parents

See what volunteer opportunities are offered on campus or at home by checking PTA and school newsletters, websites and social media. Sign up for volunteer jobs that fit well with your interests, availability and skill sets. To get connected, contact your PTA president.

The responsibilities of financial officers are specified in the association bylaws and are also established in California State PTA policies and procedures. Additional information can be found in the Finance and Job Descriptions chapters of the Toolkit. The Toolkit can be found on the PTA website, www.capta.org.

The treasurer, financial secretary and financial reviewer are generally considered the financial officers. The president, secretary and vice presidents/chairs also have specific financial responsibilities. Every PTA board member has a fiduciary responsibility to:

• Protect the assets of the organization. These assets include cash, assets, volunteers and the PTA’s reputation.
• Ensure compliance with all laws. These include federal and state laws as well as the policies and procedures of the PTA.
• Ensure the assets are used to meet the needs of the children and members served by the PTA.
• Ensure continuity of the association by preserving assets for the future and not encumbering future boards.
• Ensure the association remains transparent – all the members are given the opportunity to participate in decision making and to view financial reports.
• Ensure the association is carrying out the purposes of PTA. These include increasing family engagement, advocacy and increasing communications between home and school. Fundraising is not a purpose of PTA, but PTAs may fundraise to provide PTA programs. Councils and districts have an additional purpose, which is to train and support local associations and their officers.

PTA officers/chairmen need to understand why they are doing the things they are doing and be committed to doing them correctly and completely.

• Arts Education Chairman
• Communications
• Disaster Preparedness
• Education Chairman
• Executive Vice President
• Family Engagement Chairman
• Financial Reviewer
• Financial Secretary
• Founders Day
• Fundraising Chairman
• Graduation/Prom Night
• Health
• Historian
• Honorary Service Award
• Hospitality
• Legislative Advocacy Chairman
• Local Unit Leader
• Membership Chairman/Vice President (Unit)
• Outreach
• Parliamentarian
• Program Chairman
• Reflections Program
• Room Representative
• Room Representative Coordinator
• Safety
• Student Board Member
• Student Involvement Chairman
• Volunteer
• Volunteer Coordinator

• President
• Secretary
• Treasurer

1. Form a committee. Participation on this committee falls within the Job Description for Legislative Advocacy Chair.
2. Determine whether PTA will sponsor the forum alone or with another nonpartisan organization, such as the League of Women Voters or a branch of the American Association of University Women.
3. Set the date, and obtain a facility that is centrally located, if possible. If it will accommodate the number of candidates, a school district board room is an excellent location, and the physical environment, including audience space is, in most cases, already set up.
4. Decide whether to videotape the forum. This can be done through a local cable TV station, a high school video production class, or by a volunteer. Video can be uploaded to an online videosharing site and the PTA website. Some local government TV channels are willing to work in partnership with the League of Women Voters and PTA to tape forums for replay. Note: The camera should focus only on the moderator and the candidates.
5. Draft invitations to candidates. Be sure to include:
   a)  Complete information on date, time, and place;
   b)  Guidelines and ground rules for the forum (e.g., there will be only written questions, amount of time allowed for candidates’ responses; topics of questions; forum format (including time for opening and closing statements, candidate order for statements and answers, etc.); rules prohibiting campaign literature distribution in the forum room; if the forum will be videotaped for replay on cable TV or displayed on a website; etc.;
   c)  A request for any information needed from the candidate for promotion of the forum; e.g., biography and photo;
   d)  Name, address, telephone number and e-mail address of forum committee’s contact person;
   e)  Due date for the candidate to respond.
6. Candidate schedules are often hectic. They may be contacted by many organizations with requests for information, personal appearances, and/or forums. Establishing a personal connection by calling all candidates or their campaigns to inform them about the forum, to extend an initial invitation, and to advise them to look for a more formal invitation in the mail can facilitate both the process of organizing the forum and communicating with the candidates.
7. Obtain home addresses and e-mail addresses of all official candidates from the Registrar of Voters, and send invitations by certified mail with a return receipt requested. The signed, returned receipts should be kept on file.
8. Determine physical arrangements:
   a)  Provide adequate accessible seating for attendees.
   b)  Seating for candidates should be in the form of a head table, preferably elevated so they are visible to the audience. Seating assignments should be done by lottery with each candidate drawing a seat number prior to the beginning of the forum. The table should also be draped and water provided for candidates and moderator.
   c)  The moderator is the forum facilitator and may either stand at a podium or be seated at the table with the candidates. If the former, the moderator should be provided with a chair. If the latter, the moderator must be seated in a location that allows for eye contact with all candidates and control over the forum process and decorum.
   d)  Provide an adequate sound system with microphones available to rotate among the candidates, with a separate microphone for the moderator.
   e)  Provide tables for any refreshments and for any literature pertaining to the forum, such as agendas, programs, packets of candidates’ biographies and questionnaire responses.
   f)  Follow facility use permit regulations concerning distribution of campaign literature. Note: If a table is provided outside the forum room for candidate literature, the opportunity must be offered to all candidates. The materials should not be made available until the conclusion of the forum to avoid having them brought into the forum room. It is generally a good idea to place a limit on the amount of literature any individual candidate can place on the table to maintain the nonpartisan nature of the overall forum environment.
   g)  Provide a table for question sorters toward the front of the room. Timers should be located in the middle of the front row and visible to all candidates.
9. Identify volunteer responsibilities:
   a)  Volunteers from PTA and co-sponsoring organizations that organize and/or staff the forum should have no personal ties to any candidacy, and shall not have publicly expressed support or opposition to any of the candidates.
   b)  The forum committee should arrange for the following: greeters for both candidates and attendees; hospitality; person to open the forum and lead the Pledge of Allegiance – may be the moderator or president of the sponsoring organization(s).
   c)  Secure a neutral moderator. Consider requesting a representative of the League of Women Voters or a respected political editor from the local media. The moderator or his/her organization cannot have casually or formally endorsed any of the candidates.
   d)  Question Sorters – Enlist one PTA representative with no personal ties to any candidate, and one representative from each of the co-sponsoring organizations.
   e)  Timers – one to keep track of time, and one to hold up signs to signal candidates.
   f)  Two or three volunteers to hand out blank index cards, pick up questions and deliver them to the sorters.
10. Publicity – articles for the newspaper, radio announcements, cable announcements, fliers for PTA newsletters, etc.
11. On the day of the forum:
    a)  Attendees enter, ushers provide blank index cards on which attendees may write questions for the candidates. Each index card should be used for only one question.
    b)  Begin with Pledge of Allegiance, welcome and a statement of the nonpartisan policies of the sponsoring groups.
    c)  Moderator should go over the basic forum guidelines and procedures that were distributed to all candidates, so the audience will also understand them and know what to expect. The moderator must specify the length of time allowed for opening and closing statements, if they are included, and must also specify the amount of time each candidate will be given to respond to each question. If the forum is televised, this statement will inform the home audience as well. The moderator will also include the following information:

i.  The order of questions will be rotated among the candidates in random order.
ii.  Whether all questions will be in writing or if questions from attendees will be permitted.
iii.  All questions will be screened for relevance, to avoid duplication, and to assure adherence to the guidelines and ground rules. Personal questions or attacks on any candidate will not be acknowledged.
iv.  If a question is directed to a specific candidate, it must be issue-focused. The candidate will have a set amount of time to respond. All other candidates may have an opportunity to respond, if they so desire.
If a question is directed to all candidates, each candidate will have up to one minute to respond.

d)  Timers should hold up signs to signal speakers:

i.   Green: start
ii.  Yellow: 15 seconds left
iii. Red: stop

e)  The moderator should state that verbal interaction between the audience and the candidates during the forum will not be permitted. The forum is neutral territory for a sharing of philosophy, ideas and information, not campaigning.
f)  Begin forum. While candidates are giving their opening statements, screeners can begin sorting questions to be asked of the candidates. If questions have been received through outreach efforts prior to the forum, they should be included in the mix. After the opening statements, the moderator asks the candidates questions received from the question sorters. (Note: In the event attendance is small at the beginning of the forum, the moderator should have a few questions in hand that were collected prior to the forum. This is even more important when the forum is televised.)
g)  Moderator or other designee should close and thank cosponsors, the TV station and home audience, if applicable, and everyone in the forum audience for attending, reminding them of the election date and encouraging them to study the candidates and cast their votes.

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Figure A-3

Providing ways for parents to better support the growth, development and learning of their children and teenagers is the core purpose and value of PTA.

Setting up a Family Engagement Committee for your PTA ensures inclusion and gives parents ready access to the information, skills and training they need to support student success.

To build family engagement on campus, a good first step is to develop a year-long Action Plan. That way, you can organize, implement and assess your outreach efforts, programs and activities for family engagement more effectively.

5 Steps for an Action Plan:

• Survey parents, staff and students to identify the needs and priorities of the school community
• Create a family engagement team with parents, teachers, students, administrators and community partners to work together to support student success
• Design a family engagement Action Plan to reach and engage all families in the school community
• Present the programs budget for the Action Plan to the PTA board and association for approval
• Evaluate the effectiveness of the Action Plan, using a year-end survey or an evaluation sheet filled out at each event/activity

As part of your Action Plan, offer Parent Education Nights on a variety of subjects including:

To Boost Parenting Skills – Focus on topics such as child development, health and wellness, multiculturalism and diversity, bullying and gangs, substance abuse, the arts, family life/sex education, social media, cyber safety and the other tough issues facing parents raising children and teenagers today.

To Boost Student Achievement – Focus on topics such as school policies, homework help, curriculum, reading, writing, math, STEAM, standardized testing, school safety, campus climate, student engagement and school improvement.

To expand your outreach efforts, follow up by using your PTA newsletter, website and social media postings to provide more information and resources on these topics.