If an elementary, middle or high school chooses to have a PTA, they must affiliate with the national PTA and follow their rules. The national PTA requires each local school's PTA to have at least three elected officers. One of those elected positions is recording secretary. At some schools, the recording secretary also acts as the corresponding secretary, while at other schools those positions are divided between two people.
The California state PTA lists the duties of the recording secretary, which include taking minutes at each meeting and preparing a list of unfinished business at the end of each meeting. She also brings a list of the bylaws and standing rules to each meeting, counts votes when necessary, co-authorizes payments, and leads meetings when the president and vice-president are not available.
The corresponding secretary sends notices of each meeting to members, reads incoming correspondence at meetings and writes any outgoing correspondence on behalf of the PTA. At the end of their terms, both the recording secretary and the corresponding secretary prepare documents and pass them along to their successors.
PTA secretaries must attend and take minutes at all meetings of the executive board, which meets at least once a month for more than an hour. The secretary also attends general meetings of the PTA. The secretary works for an hour or two before and after each meeting. Most PTA secretaries serve for an entire school year.
All members of the PTA should have sons or daughters enrolled in the school. The PTA secretary must have excellent written and verbal communication skills. She must be a good listener and a strong leader when other leaders are not present. She should pay attention to detail and be able to take accurate notes. She should be organized and efficient. She should also have good time management skills.
The state and national PTA offers training courses for secretaries. They may be taken in person or on line.