Every healthy Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) has guidelines and rules to keep things running on track, usually in the form of bylaws.
Even more well organized groups will also have standing rules.
Although standing rules are considered optional to some, I have a different viewpoint and believe all PTOs should have and use standing rules to help guide their group.
Because standing rules can be so helpful to avoid chaos and are easy to implement, there’s really no reason to skip them.
Here’s three reasons why every PTO needs standing rules.
Bylaws vs. Standing Rules
Before we dig into just a few of the reasons why all PTOs should have standing rules, let’s talk about the differences between bylaws and standing rules.
Because it can get a little confusing!
Bylaws and standing rules both make up the governing documents for your parent group, but they serve different functions.
Bylaws set out the big-picture ideas and cover things like the name of your group, what community it serves, and the officers of the organization.
Standing rules take the specifics of the bylaws and give guidance on how to bring them to life, spelling out how the group should operate.
In short, the bylaws are the what and why and the standing rules are the how.
For example, the bylaws will specify that the Treasurer is an officer of the group and describe the role’s general duties and set the term limit for the volunteer role.
The standing rules will have a corresponding section that describes the specifics of the Treasurer duties, like what is to be included in the Treasurer’s reports and the process for the annual audit, among other role-specific details.
Standing Rules Literally Organize Your Group
Because bylaws speak to the very essence of an organization, they’re not easy to change and if you’re following the correct amendment process, it’ll take a minimum of least two months to push through a change.
And you don’t want your bylaws to be super easy to change because the bylaws have some of the most foundational elements for your group that won’t necessarily ever change.
But the standing rules are designed for aspects of the PTO that could change frequently.
Like the number of standing committees.
Or the time and place you’ll meet for general membership meetings each month.
Since the make up of the PTO may change from one year to the next, depending on the mix of volunteers available to help, the standing rules may need to flex to accommodate the current reality of the group.
And the changes need to be made more readily than what’s appropriate for bylaws, so it makes sense to have the procedures separate and apart from the bylaws.
That’s why groups that use standing rules reference them in their bylaws and also allow for standing rule amendments to be proposed and voted on in the same meeting.
No time delay necessary since the standing rules don’t address any foundational element of the group.
All of this helps to organize and add structure for your PTO.
Standing Rules Operate Like a PTO Instruction Manual
Because the standing rules spell out the details for how your PTO works, it’s essentially an operations manual or instruction manual for your PTO.
Issues that pop up for your group should be documented in the standing rules so that it’s clear how to handle things.
This means you won’t need to re-address issues year to year or even month to month.
It’ll allow PTO leaders and volunteers to consult the rules and proceed.
Take officer elections for example.
Elections can be a highly emotionally charged event since egos can get involved pretty easily.
So it’s best to spell out how nomination and officer elections work so everyone is clear on the process and hurt feelings can be avoided.
For example, will your group allow for debates if more than on person is interested in serving in a particular role?
My recommendation on this is a solid “heck no” since my direct personal experience is that even people making statements in support of one candidate or another is so very, very uncomfortable.
So I can’t imagine how awful an actual debate would be!
And it’s unnecessary.
A debate is not going to clarify anyone’s particular fitness over someone else for a volunteer PTO role.
Standing Rules Instill Professionalism
As volunteer-run organizations, PTOs have a reputation for being less than professional organizations, some rife with mean girls a la Regina George.
Having standing rules avoids a “Wild West” situation where people are just making things up as they see fit.
They help to reign in the Regina George’s of the PTO world and ask them to do it the way the entire group approves of.
Not having standing rules leaves things up to chance.
With a really good leader, this may not be a problem.
But in the case of a bad leader, blind to the call to serve the best interests of the PTO, this is a bad thing, especially when someone is making up the rules to suit their own needs.
It makes for a very unstable group.
If your school parent group has policies and procedures documented in the standing rules, then you have literally the rules of the game that all will operate under.
That’s more fair than just having it be whatever someone feels like on the spur of the moment, depending on who’s on the leadership team.
Standing Rules Allow Your Group to Grow and Improve
The last reason your group should have standing rules that I’ll address here is that it really allows your group to grow and not constantly be recreating the wheel each time.
You’re going to be able to improve, rather than spending time figuring out the basics.
It’s a waste of time and effort to essentially start each year back at square one because the PTO isn’t using standing rules.
Having an established set of rules that your group refines as needed means you’ll be able to level up instead of starting wherever the new leaders are.
Volunteers will be able to take the defined rules of the PTO and run with them, having full confidence that the standing rules are providing solid guidance.
Having standing rules also makes it easier to recruit new volunteers, since they won’t be starting from scratch.
They’ll have the confidence that the group is somewhat organized and be more apt to raise their hand to help.
And this also eliminates the experience gap preventing more parents from getting involved with your PTO in the first place.
Compare this to a group who doesn’t have anything documented and volunteers have to figure it all out for themselves.
Which group are you more likely to get involved with?
Definitely the one with standing rules, right?
Watch This!
I made a video talking about how important standing rules are for PTOs.
Give it a watch:
Over to You!
PTOs are better organizations when they are guided by a set of standing rules.
Standing rules allow for school parent groups to be more organized, operate more fluidly and professionally and act as a mini user guide for members to consult.
They also eliminate needing to re-create the wheel when it comes to figuring out how the PTO should do something, whether it’s the annual audit or officer elections or another matter that should’ve been spelled out to eliminate drama or confusion.
Having the details spelled out in the standings rules allows volunteers to understand the group and how they should act on behalf of the PTO.
Resources You’ll Love
Need some help drafting your own set of standing rules? Check out our template kit!
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