Tell me about being a Vice President (PTO/PTA)

[KpbS]

Our very small school is losing several families due to moves and our PTO has some upcoming vacancies. I am told by this years president that my name has been thrown around for an office, specifically VP. I have real hesitations about taking any officer position on--I am a room mom (with little to no help from other parents) and on another board for the school that meets monthly.

Doesn't VP mean you are doing the lion share of the work AND being groomed for taking the President position?

[kristenk]

I think it really depends on the school/PTA. There are about 4 different VPs on our PTA. They all have different focuses. One does membership (so encouraging people to sign up and keeping track of all of the members), one is in charge of parent education, another does needs assessments and another is VP of ways and means (and I have no idea what she actually does).

None of our VPs has gone from being VP to being President since I've been there. They've floated around to other jobs within the PTA, but it's definitely not expected to go from VP to President.

Your PTA might be different.

[KpbS]

Thanks for your post. Anyone else with PTO/PTA experience?

[sariana]

I am on the board of the PTA at DS's school. I thinkt the hierarchy is set at a higher level--I'm not sure if it's based on the state PTA or National. But it's true that there are multiple VP positions. We have VP of Ways and Means (Fundraising), VP of Membership, VP of Reflections (fine arts contest), VP of Communications, VP of I-don't-remember-what-else. We also have an Executive Vice President, which may be more analogous to what you are referring to. However, our incoming President is our current VP of Ways and Means, not the Executive VP. And it could have been anyone, not necessarily someone even on the board this year.

We also have a number of "Chairs": Special Education, Legislative Representative/Advocacy, Arts Advocacy, and maybe a few others.

How much work would be expected of you is completely and totally dependent on your PTA/PTO and the people involved in it. We have a core group of people who tend to do lot of the planning and work for our events, but anyone can step up and volunteer at any time for any event. (The VP still would be the one ultimately "in charge" and would be responsible for the paper work.) If you are a good recruiter, your work load could be minimal. But at a small school, you obviously have a smaller pool of people from which to draw.

[mattiew]

In our school there is a President Elect and VP. The VP is in charge of the room parents and teacher birthdays, easy job! Ask your current PTO President or the current VP for details.

[hellokitty]

I would only do it if you know that you will work well with the rest of the PTO board members. It could make or break your experience. One of my friends has been trying to break into the PTO board for the past 4 yrs only to deal with a PTO board that is difficult to deal with. They kept losing board members and decided on their own not to have elections for new board members (yeah, I know, how is that even legal?). They have done a poor job and there has been a lot of grumbling, since the two women left, just do whatever they want, yet don't want anyone else to be on the board to make any decisions (which is why they didn't anyone new in the group). Thankfully, they are both leaving the PTO for the next upcoming yr, so several moms I know are going to be the new PTO board. They asked me if I wanted to be on the board too, but I have two other organizations that I have obligations to, so I just said I would be a committee chair. They work well together and I think that they will make a lot of positive changes (like getting rid of the annoying candle and gift wrap fundraisers). I just would not join a board though if I got any sort of feeling that there is any animosity within the board or if there is anyone particularly difficult to deal with, I would not want to be involved. I've been on a board before with one member who caused ALL sorts of problems and it was a pretty terrible experience and then I watched our moms club board basically implode last yr, b/c the president was a whack job and was leading the group in the wrong direction and when the other board members tried to do something about it, she basically ran then off the board.

[niccig]

I would only do it if I had lots of time to devote to it. I don't, so I've been a committee chair then resigned that when started working part-time + full-time student, as felt I wasn't giving it my all. I'm now a dedicated foot solider, want someone for pizza lunch, I'm there. Need someone to run a booth at the jogathon, I'm there. But I don't have the time to be the person running the entire thing.

I also think it will depend on the President, how organized are there, can you get along with them. Find out more what the VP does.

Don't be railroaded into it either. Yes, they need parents to volunteer, but not everyone has the time/capacity to be in charge. If you really think you can't do it, then find other ways to help as much as you can.

[Tondi G]

I don't know how your PTA is run but our school has a non profit organization. I started off as a general board member. I really stepped up and helped out a ton ... learned a bunch too. When one of the Co-Presidents stepped down I was nominated to take the position. I felt bad leaving the one Mom to handle it all herself and agreed to take it on. That Mom has since left the school (they moved) and I have a new co-president but she hasn't really been carrying her weight. The level of parental involvement is really low at our school. People use the excuse that "they don't feel welcome" but the reality is that they like what is done regarding festivals and fundraisers and activities, but they don't want to lift a finger to help us make it happen. Needless to say.... I am looking forward to stepping down from my 2 year term in the fall!

[Octobermommy]

How many students are at the school? Are there committees or just 4 officers? How many fundraisers dO they do?

[squimp]

Our PTO does not have a vice president. We have a president and a president elect. So I would find out what the responsibilities are for the VP. It should be written in the PTO charter or some other document like that, or better yet you could ask the current president and VP. In many ways the president position is the most cush job on the board (also includes principal, treasurer and secretary) because you just run the meetings. The people who run the fundraisers and events have the hardest jobs. So it can really depend and I would want some first-hand info.

[KpbS]

Well, our school is very small with about 120 students. Not very much parental involvement on the whole. There is a small group of involved parents and from those an even smaller number are involved in the PTO. We have one major fundraiser and a few minors ones. No committees, just Pres., VP, Treas., Sec. and 8 individuals in charge of lessor fundraisers and the like.

I feel totally and completely unqualified to run the major fundraiser--it is a massive project involving a ton of solicitations and contacts etc. I think the VP is very involved in the largest fundraiser although there is a separate chair person for that fundraiser. It is a good idea to ask the current VP about the job duties although she is 1) motivated to have me take the job and 2) is one of those women who would completely underestimate the job description when pressed. :tongue5: Thanks for all of the insights. I want to contribute but really don't want to be overextended and there is no way that I want the president's job or the major fundraiser position, like ever.