Pta

[Sgeeny]

Hi. Can a member of school staff (TA) be a governor and chair of the pta?

Many thanks

Well they can I guess, but I would think that was extremely bad practice and not to be recommended at all. Far too much chance of conflict of interest.

But if it is a choice of that or the PTA folding ...

Not good practice. The PTA should be separate from the school (and possibly a charity in its own right) and chaired by a parent. Is the TA a parent? You cannot stop a parent being chairman but try and find someone else. It should be someone independent from the Governors too. Is this a bid for power or is it vital this person becomes Chair.

She is a parent. I think it’s a bid for power. She is trying to spend money without the committees agreement.

I would suggest PTA chair as a parent can be a TA but not a Governor, else it's a conflict of interest for sure. The chair would need to work hard to manage separation of work duties and PTA.

Not a great idea.

But surely there should be a Finance Committee of sorts, and voting?

The Chair doesn't get to decide everything on his/her own.

Is it a charity?
Is the treasurer strong?

This is why there should be 2 signatures on the cheque book.

Words should be had. No money should be agreed without at minimum Treasurer approval. Committee could provide 'spending guidelines'
e.g. Up to £X Chair/Secretary&Treasurer can agree to spend
£X-Y committee can agree
More than £Y needs to have been discussed in principle at the previous AGM or notified in school newsletter for views (or whatever)

If necessary the committee should do a vote of no confidence and call an Extraordinary General Meeting.

I guess it depends on the interest and commitment of the other members. Our school, until recently, had a similar set up because very few others wanted to get involved. We now have parents who are chair, secretary, treasurer etc but we're still a very small group and in effect work more as a team, rather than a hierarchy. It's bloody hard work and has a tendency to take over your entire life with very little thanks and not a lot of reward. if you're planning on ousting someone I'd think quite long and hard whether you want to be the one who shoulders the responsibility. It's not easy!