Are you a new Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) volunteer trying to make sense of how your school parent group operates?
One issue that pops up frequently for new PTO leaders and parent volunteers is that they might think the executive board and the committees are basically the same thing.
They’re not.
And that’s actually the problem.
Sometimes these terms get used like they’re interchangeable, but in reality, executive board and committees function totally differently.
They have different purposes and roles.
And when you don’t know the difference, your PTO gets chaotic pretty fast.
Let’s break down how executive board and committees actually work.
The Executive Board: Your PTO’s Leadership
A PTO’s executive board is made up of elected leaders.
These are the people running the PTO year-round.
President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary… the main leadership roles that don’t really change from year to year.
Your board is going to include basically the same positions every year because those positions are just needed.
Think of the executive board like an advisory body for your whole group.
All the big information, all the decisions, all the options that might affect your PTO… they funnel through the executive board first.
One role of the executive board is to whittle things down, make the initial calls, and then present the final choices to the general PTO membership.
The work of PTO executive boards is where things actually happen before being presented to the wider group.
Every person on the executive board got there through a pretty formal process.
They were nominated and elected to the executive board position.
The executive board handles all the big-picture work like planning and goal setting.
They set the annual agenda and calendar of PTO events.
They decide what programs you’re doing this year.
Executive board members approve the fundraisers before they get pitched to the general membership.
They’re also approving the PTO’s annual budget before the general membership votes on it.
All the executive work, basically.
All the behind-the-scenes admin that has to happen to actually make the PTO work.
Because that’s the deal: when someone gets elected to the PTO’s executive board, they’re signing up to lead.
They own the work that happens in the background.
Committees: Your PTO’s Task Forces
PTO committees are a totally different animal from executive boards.
Committee chairs might be elected, but in my experience, they’re usually appointed by the PTO President.
Unsure if committee chairs should be elected or appointed?
Check your group’s bylaws for guidance.
The committee members are usually appointed by the committee chair.
They show up at a meeting, raise their hand, say “Yeah, I can help with that,” and boom. They’re on the committee.
But sometimes they’re elected, depending on the committee (the Nominating Committee is one where it’s not unusual to see this).
Again, check those bylaws to see what procedure your PTO has set to cover committee formation.
Committees are usually (but not always) shorter time commitments than an executive board.
Not in volume of work, but the duration.
The projects PTO committees handle can be pretty small, or they can run the whole year.
For example, if you have a teacher mini grant committee, that committee’s probably going keep going until you’ve handed out all the money in your budget.
Depending on the size of your mini grant budget, this could be a few months or span the majority of the school year.
Committees work in a time and space outside of executive board or general membership meetings.
A small group handles the project, and then they come back to the board and the general membership with a report.
It’s a way to get real work done without clogging up your big meetings with all the details.
Your PTO’s President’s Role on Committees
One thing worth knowing: the President is usually an ex-officio member of basically every committee, except for the nominating and audit committees.
Those two committees are off-limits for the President, and for good reason.
You don’t want the President influencing who gets nominated for office.
That needs to be totally voluntary.
People need to feel like they can say no without it being weird.
And trust me, a lot of people have a hard time saying no to President.
I’ve had people tell me I’m one of those “hard to say no to” people, which is why I try to give people time and space to say no to my requests for help.
For the audit committee, you also want the process to be free of influence or interference from someone who may have a conflict of interest.
Your Standing vs Ad-Hoc Committees
The committees you run every year might stay pretty consistent if your PTO is well established.
You might have standing committees that are actually written into your bylaws.
Like, that’s how we’ve decided this committee needs to exist, so it’s there every year whether we need a big project or not.
Or you might have ad-hoc committees that pop up only when you need them for a specific project or circumstance.
Either way, this is where your bylaws and standing rules matter so much since they’ll lay out the structure of your group and give day to day guidance on how to run your PTO.
How Your PTO Executive Board and Committees Work Together
Even though there are big differences in how executive boards and committees function in a PTO, they actually work together in tandem.
Here’s the overview of the structure: the executive board is making the big calls and setting the direction.
Committees are executing on that direction and those decisions.
Committees report back to the board, the board brings important info to the general membership, and the work of the PTO keeps moving forward.
Over to You
The main things you need to remember about PTO executive boards and committees is that executive boards are leadership.
Committees are execution.
Boards make decisions and set direction.
Committees carry out the work and bring back results.
Board positions are consistent year-over-year.
Committees can shift and change based on what your PTO needs that year.
Executive board members are elected through a formal process.
Committee chairs are a mix of appointed chairs and volunteer members.
Despite the differences, both executive board and committees matter a great deal to PTOs.
You can’t run a healthy PTO without both pieces working in sync.
Resources for PTO Executive Boards
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- Staff Appreciation Binder Kit (Planner)
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