PTO presidents lead every meeting of the organization. The president must be present at each PTO meeting to begin the meeting, as well as to end it when all business is conducted.
In most cases, the president is also in charge of starting the votes for issues that face the PTO. Votes can include allowing new members onto the PTO board or changing policies for meetings and organizational events, among other things. The president will generally lead discussion, as well as open voting for these important decisions.
A lot of the PTO president’s duties revolve around scheduling and organizing events.
In most cases, the president is responsible for preparing agendas for each of the organization’s public meetings, as well as meetings held with just the PTO board, the school administrators or the teachers alone. These agendas should cover discussions, votes and other topics that must be covered within the meetings.
PTO presidents also schedule the meetings and events conducted by the organization. The PTO board is often involved with school-based events such as back to school nights and pep rallies, and so the president must keep track of the organization’s schedule to make sure that there are no conflicting events.
PTOs often hold events of their own, such as fundraisers. The president should also schedule these events, as well as delineate responsibility to make sure that important topics like food, decorations and other necessities are taken care of.
PTO presidents are also responsible for the financial well being of the organization.
Presidents should keep track of the organization’s financial standing, including annual budget, bank accounts, current balances, check signing policies and accounting systems used to keep track of the PTOs information, according to the website PTO Today.
Presidents should also know the PTO’s status: is the group an independent group, a school-affiliated committee, a nonprofit or a tax-exempt group? This information will assist the group in it ever needs to apply for grants or other funding.