Unregistered;126560 wrote: I am an officer in the PTO at a Christian school. I, along with 2 others, get stuck with everything! I recognize that we are all regular people with jobs and families and other commitments. However, what I don't like is to be lied to. Yes, I have high standards for myself and others. However, if someone tells me that they are going to do something, then I should be able to count on him/her. Our other officers do not lead by example and they do not uphold their duties. To be part of a Christian school, one should expect them to be men/women of their word. Their word is worthless and causes the rest of us to have to jump through hoops and stress ourselves out to pick up their slack. These are volunteer positions and if they don't want to do the work, they should pass the duty to someone that is willing to do it. The working officers cannot continue like this. As you said...we are regular people with jobs and families and other commitments.


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Myabe no volunteers because of your attitude.. ISNT Forgiveness and NOT passing judgement two of the Biggest Christian Tenets???

Maybe I grew up studying the wrong Christianity... "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you"


People volunteer not because thier WORD means something its because THEY mean something and sometimes life happens and other priorities move to the front.... no one likes a flake but that doesnt mean it was done on purpose or the nexttime that person will.

Family- Education are my top priorities and my Businesses, Friends and Country tie for 3rd- sometimes thoise get hit by a tornado and then we work to put it back the way it was

A parent not helping or volunteering IS NOT slacking... How dare you... I've not been nice to a few here (my apologies) but do you even know these people, You slander as slackers??

Capedad is absolutely right! Being an officer is a volunteer job and each officer has his/her own job description. It is a good idea to let the chairman be in charge of his own committe without the officers babysitting him. All of the officers do not need to be at everything. Make sure you have enough volunteers to do a job before you commit to it. Treat people like you trust them. You can't expect certain people to be there morning, noon and night. If you are, then you need to delegate. Spending time with your child is more important than being supermom for your school.

I am an officer in the PTO at a Christian school. I, along with 2 others, get stuck with everything! I recognize that we are all regular people with jobs and families and other commitments. However, what I don't like is to be lied to. Yes, I have high standards for myself and others. However, if someone tells me that they are going to do something, then I should be able to count on him/her. Our other officers do not lead by example and they do not uphold their duties. To be part of a Christian school, one should expect them to be men/women of their word. Their word is worthless and causes the rest of us to have to jump through hoops and stress ourselves out to pick up their slack. These are volunteer positions and if they don't want to do the work, they should pass the duty to someone that is willing to do it. The working officers cannot continue like this. As you said...we are regular people with jobs and families and other commitments.


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snushy;105263 wrote: I'm the PTO President at my son's school, and I am the one who "gets stuck" handling just about everything. It frustrates me sometimes, but I made the committment to be the President. The PTO VP and PTO Secretary are the only two people that help out when things need to get done. However, if they aren't available, I have to do things myself.

The point here is that PTO Officers are regular people with jobs and families and other committments. They should help when they can and show up when they make a committment to help with a particular event. Just my opinion.

rafesmom;105261 wrote: Our group is starting to grow and I really feel its setting a bad example for new members and not giving them a very good impression of our PTO's officers. I guess I expect more of a commitment out of the officers than other members - is that wrong? :confused:

Its is a volunteer organization is it not??? IMO you cant set mandatory attendance requirements except for Board Mtgs or you'll never get volunteer officers

Its all about priority and unfortunatly (and its not wrong to be this way) a majority of parents see other activities as priority over PTA/O functions, serving on the board etc. As a volunteer organization it will be that way till society changes it priorities about school and education (we are close to dead last in the world among developed nations).

Anyone who attend a function, meeting etc - that isnt required to be there is just icing on the cake (becuase worse case scenario would be Noone joining- showing up)

Our PTA is sometimes cuahgt up in the numbers game, too - Its NOT quantity (or even # of members) its the quality.

Because all our officers work outside the home and have other commitments, we work as a team (i.e. if the treasurer can't be there one of the other officers collects money or if the secretary can't be there, someone else takes minutes). It seems to work pretty well, we also have a couple of member-at-large for lack of a better title who are fantastic. They pitch in and help the officers and the fresh ideas have been outstanding!

I think that having such huge expectations for officers has nothing but down-side.

Who would want to run for any office in a group that would expect you to attend just about everything? If you're the secretary and the secretary description says you should write press releases, then you might have to show up to write your press release. If there is money collected, the treasurer probably has to be around. President and VP can share 'appearance' duty or always show up as a team. Beyond what's specifically spelled out in the officer's duties, your officers should be like other volunteers.

Having all officers at each event also perpetuates the dreaded clique image. If you are always all there, knowing each other and chatting, it can be hard to connect with new members.

In your example, you did have an officer presence -- two of you. Can I assume there were a lot of volunteers? One or two officers mingling/helping/thanking people who are there is excellent. More than that should not be required.