Essential PTO Bylaws: Protect Your Organization & Avoid Headaches!

Time to get PTO (Parent Teacher Organization) nerdy once again today!

Let’s talk about Bylaws and Standing Rules that every single Parent Teacher Organization needs to have.

Having these rules in place is going to make your life as a parent volunteer so much easier.

What the suggestions all have in common is that they address common problems that pop up from time to time for many PTOs.

Quick Bylaws Refresher

If you’re not familiar with bylaws, they’re a set of shared agreements about the purpose and nature of your group.

It’s the legal document, the primary governing document for the parent group.

The bylaws’ relationship to a PTO is like the Constitution’s to the United States.

They address the mission and purpose of the group, which community the PTO serves, etc.

Because the bylaws address the major structural and big picture items, the process to change them is not easy.

You want members to have an opportunity to think about and discuss the proposed changes in advance of voting because of the importance of the bylaws for the group.

Usually one month’s notice is sufficient.

This means the proposed changes are presented one month, and the vote for the changes happen the following month.

Standing Rules

You’ve probably also heard of standing rules.

They’re also a governing document, but come second in importance to bylaws.

The standing rules are the specific ways of bringing the bylaws into life.

The primary difference between the bylaws and standing rules is that the bylaws are the big picture items that don’t change.

The standing rules are closer to like an agreement for how you’re going to run your household.

They’re the day-to-day items to keep everything running in your group.

For example, the bylaws may state that officer elections are to be held in May of each year and then the standing rules will have a description of how the election process is to run.

How the group runs as far as the details might change from year to year based on the volunteer mix and a change in group circumstances spurred by increased or decreased student enrollment, for example.

And this may have an effect on how the group needs to run, necessitating a change in the standing rules.

With standing rules, the changes can be proposed and voted on in the very same meeting. 

What goes where?

One of the following suggestions could fit in either the bylaws or standing rules.

It all depends on how the rest of your governing documents are structured and what makes the most sense.

In any event, you want the bylaws (and standing rules, if you have them) to be like a user manual for your PTO.

There are placement recommendations for each of the suggestions, but feel free to adapt to fit the needs of your particular parent group.

Suggestion No. 1: Term Limits

PTO bylaws absolutely should specify term limits for elected officers.

Volunteers should not be elected into a position and hold the same position for many years.

The healthiest PTOs have more generalists who understand how multiple roles in a PTO work, versus having specialists who only know about one specific aspect.

This way, the group had multiple options for volunteers who can fill the position.

And this ensures a stronger group.

Encouraging volunteers to change positions and learn new roles will keep the volunteers from getting too burnt out in any position.

This in turn help keep volunteers involved longer.

Having regular turnover of volunteer roles also gives an opportunity for newer volunteers to gain experience

All good for the individual volunteers and the group as a whole.

Suggestion No. 2: Handling Elected Position Vacancies

The next thing all bylaws should address is a process for handling vacancies for elected positions.

What happens if no one wants to be President or Treasurer? Does the PTO have to close?

This issue should be addressed in the bylaws so that the group has a pre-agreed procedure to follow if the situation arises.

Having the details worked out in advance helps ensure there’s a process to follow, with the pros and cons of the situation having previously been sorted out, smoothing the situation for all involved.

Suggestion No. 3: Specific Role of School Leaders

The next aspect to address in your PTO’s governing documents is the role of the Principal.

This particular issue is such huge potential area of conflict because people have different management and people skills.

Some Principals have a really good understanding of what their participation should look, and what exactly their role is as a PTO partner is. 

These school leaders generally take a a healthy approach where they are looking to partner with, but not control the school parent group.

But other Principals don’t quite get that, and some may even feel fine dictating exactly what the PTO spends money on.

So defining the Principal’s role in the bylaws and whether or not they have access to PTO funds or the PTO’s bank account can help smooth this potentially rocky situation.

The ultimate goal here is to define the dependence or independence of the PTO in relation to the school.

If the Principal is on the PTO’s bank account, then the independence of the group is diminished quite a bit.

And it’s also less clear if the PTO is a separate entity from the school if the Principal has direct access to PTO money.

Take the chance to clear up the issue in your group’s bylaws in advance of an issue popping up.

Suggestion No. 4: Finance Management

Another important aspect of PTO group management to outline in detail in the bylaws is money and finance handling.

When do treasurer reports have to be made?

Is there going to be an annual audit?

How many volunteers are going to be on the bank account?

Your group definitely wants at least two, if not more people on the bank account.

That will decrease the opportunities for theft or misappropriation of money.

It also will increase the transparency of the group’s money, which is so, so, so important.

Suggestion No. 5: Social Media Control

Specifying who has control over different PTO owned social media accounts is also something to be explicitly covered in your group’s bylaws or standing rules. 

In fact, it’s a good idea to have multiple administrators on all PTO social media accounts.

I’ve gotten emails from despondent PTO volunteers wondering what to do. 

The sole administrator on their PTO’s Facebook page is refusing to let anyone one else on the account and is now ghosting them or some variation on this theme.

It’s really too bad that adults can’t act appropriately all the time, but here we are.

The solution here is to have a clear rule that more than one person should be on the account as an administrator at all time.

While there is no PTO police, if you have this rule in your bylaws or standing rules, you can remind the Immature Imogen of the rule.  And if that doesn’t solve it, you can potentially involve the Principal to put pressure on the Imogen to do the right thing.

Without the rule, it’ll be hard to move the needle on this issue.

Getting really specific about these details can save your group a lot of trouble. 

Suggestion No. 6: Ending the PTO

Procedures that outline what to do to dissolve the group especially need to be included in all PTO bylaws.

Specify what will trigger the dissolution. 

Where does the PTO money and property go?

If you are a 501(c)(3) the IRS definitely has guidelines on where the money can go, so this isn’t up to the discretion of individual groups.

You actually have to give it to another 501(c)(3) with a similar mission.

The aim here is to have the donated money go to the same cause that it was originally given for. 

System to Make This Easier

If you’re looking to update or draft your very first set of your bylaws and standing rules, and you’re overwhelmed or would like more guidance on how to proceed, you need a system!

Check out Bylaws and Standing Rules Made Simple.

Creating or updating bylaws shouldn’t be a nightmare.

Our Bylaws and Standing Rules Made Simple breaks down the process of creating or updating your PTO’s governing documents into easy to follow process anyone can do.

Written in straightforward English, the kit transforms your bylaws into off-putting legalese into powerful tools that’ll get everyone on the same page.

Take your school parent group from disorganized and unclear to professional and effective.

Watch this!

Over to you