PTA can't find new officers

[Anonymous]

Anyone else's school having trouble finding folks to volunteer for PTA positions? Our situation (elementary school) is pretty desperate - "elections" next week and no one on the ballot for President (or even co-President), and various other positions. We're told without a President we basically have to dissolve the PTA. I never thought I would be at a school in this situation, though now that I'm a working parent I understand why no one wants to make this commitment.

Does anyone have experience with creative ways to recruit people and/or how to keep the PTA afloat?

[Anonymous]

It's so hard because no one has the time these jobs have traditionally required. And with fewer volunteers, the jobs get bigger and the cycle gets worse.

What has helped us is to form a small PTA with larger groups of committees beneath the roles to help out. I've found that people are more likely to sign up for one discreet job (Sponsor outreach or Fair coordinator) than for a year-long role with lots of endless jobs. The officers should be doing nothing but managing and the committees do the hands on stuff.

[Anonymous]

See if a few will sign up for part of the year - three people to do president, for example, switching every few months.
Send out a letter to community to remind them of what will be lost if they do not have PTA. Reach out to potential K parents directly.
Also, some schools combine PTA withother schools.

[Anonymous]

We're close to your situation.

It's a combination of people not understanding what the PTA does (despite being told more than enough times), and working parents not being able to do the work.

[Anonymous]

I would make the commitment and do it except that our PTA the past few years has been very unwelcoming and not interested in having members participate so many of us gave up. Maybe you need to look at what you are doing as a group if no one is interested. I volunteered a few times this year at PTA things and felt very unwelcome. Its generally the working parents who are doing it so employment isn't the issue, the group of people running it and what they are doing is the issue along with the principal who is nasty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:See if a few will sign up for part of the year - three people to do president, for example, switching every few months.
Send out a letter to community to remind them of what will be lost if they do not have PTA. Reach out to potential K parents directly.
Also, some schools combine PTA withother schools.

This..

[Anonymous]

OP, what is your current position in the PTA? Would you be willing to take on a "restructuring" year (or even just semester) to try to put something together more like the PP suggested with multiple discrete jobs? If you had to, you could suspend all other PTA operations for the year (or just for the Fall).

It would likely mean paring back the traditional PTA work, at least for now, but might be more sustainable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:See if a few will sign up for part of the year - three people to do president, for example, switching every few months.
Send out a letter to community to remind them of what will be lost if they do not have PTA. Reach out to potential K parents directly.
Also, some schools combine PTA withother schools.

Maryland PTA does not allow co-presidents, so you can't switch out Presidents every few months. Depending on your PTA bylaws, you could have a President and President-Elect who would in effect serve as co-presidents ,with the president-elect taking on the role of President the next year. That also allows for continuity.

As a PP mentioned, without a President Treasurer, and Secretary the PTA is legally required to dissolve. We had an issue like this in our school and basically sent that information out the parents, letting them know if no one stepped up, the process to dissolve the PTA would begin. We listed all of the programs and services the PTA provides and explained that none of these things would happen next year if someone didn't step up. We wound up filling our whole board after that message went out...

At this point in the year, I would contact your MCCPTA cluster coordinators for your cluster and even reach out to the MCCPTA Board to ask for assistance.

I am a PTA President so I know the amount of work involved and understand why people would be hesitant to take it on, but it IS doable (most of my board including myself work full-time, too).

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would make the commitment and do it except that our PTA the past few years has been very unwelcoming and not interested in having members participate so many of us gave up. Maybe you need to look at what you are doing as a group if no one is interested. I volunteered a few times this year at PTA things and felt very unwelcome. Its generally the working parents who are doing it so employment isn't the issue, the group of people running it and what they are doing is the issue along with the principal who is nasty.

I hear that a lot and don't believe people anymore when they say this. I've been yelled at by a fellow PTA officer and I still volunteered for the post I was voted into. People expect the teachers and PTA to fawn over them and grovel if they show up to help, but that can't be the case all the time. YOU'RE NOT DOING THIS FOR THE PLAUDITS. YOU'RE NOT DOING THIS FOR YOUR KID ONLY. These are the two things people must understand.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would make the commitment and do it except that our PTA the past few years has been very unwelcoming and not interested in having members participate so many of us gave up. Maybe you need to look at what you are doing as a group if no one is interested. I volunteered a few times this year at PTA things and felt very unwelcome. Its generally the working parents who are doing it so employment isn't the issue, the group of people running it and what they are doing is the issue along with the principal who is nasty.

I hear that a lot and don't believe people anymore when they say this. I've been yelled at by a fellow PTA officer and I still volunteered for the post I was voted into. People expect the teachers and PTA to fawn over them and grovel if they show up to help, but that can't be the case all the time. YOU'RE NOT DOING THIS FOR THE PLAUDITS. YOU'RE NOT DOING THIS FOR YOUR KID ONLY. These are the two things people must understand.

I agree with this. People also have no idea how much time and energy PTA officers give to the school. It's insane. I cannot speak for any other school, but our PTA isn't unwelcoming-- it's getting shit done and we need help. It's not a social club, it's a second job. If volunteers expect to be celebrated for showing up, then they are not understanding the nature of the PTA or the people who work in it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would make the commitment and do it except that our PTA the past few years has been very unwelcoming and not interested in having members participate so many of us gave up. Maybe you need to look at what you are doing as a group if no one is interested. I volunteered a few times this year at PTA things and felt very unwelcome. Its generally the working parents who are doing it so employment isn't the issue, the group of people running it and what they are doing is the issue along with the principal who is nasty.

I hear that a lot and don't believe people anymore when they say this. I've been yelled at by a fellow PTA officer and I still volunteered for the post I was voted into. People expect the teachers and PTA to fawn over them and grovel if they show up to help, but that can't be the case all the time. YOU'RE NOT DOING THIS FOR THE PLAUDITS. YOU'RE NOT DOING THIS FOR YOUR KID ONLY. These are the two things people must understand.

Np, but I agree with the first poster. Second poster, you must have some strange situations at your school and I'm sorry if you are getting just parents wanting shoulder pats but most of us with this problem relate to the first poster-- just unwelcoming and very disorganized. These are probably self perpetuating with the hoggy disorganized pta throw up their hands and say, i'll do it myself! It is really too bad.

The OP sounds like neither of these cases, just a school where everyone is too busy and hoping to freeload or skate through. There are great ideas on here for job sharing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
We're close to your situation.

It's a combination of people not understanding what the PTA does (despite being told more than enough times), and working parents not being able to do the work.

AND women who don't work outside the home but putting in many volunteer hours being demeaned and mocked by other women (more than a few DCUM posters do it repeatedly)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would make the commitment and do it except that our PTA the past few years has been very unwelcoming and not interested in having members participate so many of us gave up. Maybe you need to look at what you are doing as a group if no one is interested. I volunteered a few times this year at PTA things and felt very unwelcome. Its generally the working parents who are doing it so employment isn't the issue, the group of people running it and what they are doing is the issue along with the principal who is nasty.

I hear that a lot and don't believe people anymore when they say this. I've been yelled at by a fellow PTA officer and I still volunteered for the post I was voted into. People expect the teachers and PTA to fawn over them and grovel if they show up to help, but that can't be the case all the time. YOU'RE NOT DOING THIS FOR THE PLAUDITS. YOU'RE NOT DOING THIS FOR YOUR KID ONLY. These are the two things people must understand.

You may not believe it but then why is there no turn out for these events. They barely got donations (in some cases they didn't get even close or 1/2 of what they needed) for teacher appreciation and very few beyond the leaders volunteered to help. I'm not doing it for plaudits and am doing it for my child BUT at some point I'm not ok with being treated like dirt and the stuff they do is embarrassing, such as how they handled teacher appreciation. It was pretty sad what they did and if that is appreciation we were better off doing nothing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
We're close to your situation.

It's a combination of people not understanding what the PTA does (despite being told more than enough times), and working parents not being able to do the work.

AND women who don't work outside the home but putting in many volunteer hours being demeaned and mocked by other women (more than a few DCUM posters do it repeatedly)

You find the time for things important to you. At our school its mostly working parents with flexible jobs so it has nothing to do with employment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would make the commitment and do it except that our PTA the past few years has been very unwelcoming and not interested in having members participate so many of us gave up. Maybe you need to look at what you are doing as a group if no one is interested. I volunteered a few times this year at PTA things and felt very unwelcome. Its generally the working parents who are doing it so employment isn't the issue, the group of people running it and what they are doing is the issue along with the principal who is nasty.

I hear that a lot and don't believe people anymore when they say this. I've been yelled at by a fellow PTA officer and I still volunteered for the post I was voted into. People expect the teachers and PTA to fawn over them and grovel if they show up to help, but that can't be the case all the time. YOU'RE NOT DOING THIS FOR THE PLAUDITS. YOU'RE NOT DOING THIS FOR YOUR KID ONLY. These are the two things people must understand.

You may not believe it but then why is there no turn out for these events. They barely got donations (in some cases they didn't get even close or 1/2 of what they needed) for teacher appreciation and very few beyond the leaders volunteered to help. I'm not doing it for plaudits and am doing it for my child BUT at some point I'm not ok with being treated like dirt and the stuff they do is embarrassing, such as how they handled teacher appreciation. It was pretty sad what they did and if that is appreciation we were better off doing nothing.

NP-- perhaps because the parents are happy freeloading off the people who do volunteer....