PTA advice needed

[JamieOliveOil]

I was appointed Chair of our PTA in October. Since then, we have been unable to appoint a Secretary to fill the role I had taken previously.

The problem is I need support as I'm still doing all of the admin as well as the Chair's duties and working FT. Also, the new Treasurer is really hard work - borderline bully - and I could do with extra moral support.

We have advertised a few times for the role but to no avail. If it goes on much longer, I feel like stepping down myself.

Any advice as to what I could do? Thank you

Are there two people willing to share the role? Might make it more appealing, and can work out well.

And think about who you have as active members who might be worth having a chat with - often people feel intimidated about putting themselves forward for these roles, but a quiet chat with lots of positives about how great you think they'd be might make all the difference.

Ooh, tricky! Is it a big PTA? Agree about sharing the role - we do that for our vice chair PTA role.

Sounds like you've taken on a lot - you have my sympathy. People are often unwilling to step forward.

It's too much for you to do all the admin as well as be the Chair. When our PTA was in crisis with no new members coming forward we met with the Head Teacher and explained the situation. We said we would have to fold unless new members came forward, not too much to ask in a school with 700+ on role! The Head put out an SOS to all parents stating how vital our fundraising was to the school, what we had achieved in recent years, how we spent the money to enhance the children learning experiences and how we would be forced to fold at the end of term unless we has more support. This letter did the trick and we managed to recruit new committee members. If parents continue to be apathetic then don't be afraid to step down, you can't do it all on your own, you need help! At least you can genuinely say you did your best to support the school. Good luck. x

Thank you for the helpful advice. I went into school this morning and had a quick word with the Head and asked that we work together with try and recruit a Secretary. I asked that we put out a letter to Parents reminding them of all of the things PTA pays for or towards and that if we can't appoint someone soon then, basically, the PTA won't function effectively. I'm not sure if people actually care but it's worth a try.