I think the problem is that parents all really do like to help out, but none want to take the responsibility that comes with an officer position.

We have a similar situation at our K-6 school. There is no interest in any position, but 2nd VP. The president and myself (VP) have carried most of the leg work the past year and if we stay in office it would be the 3rd year for both of us. Should a PTO notify parents' that they may have to disband PTO if no prospects run for office? It's hard to believe that in a school of over 1,000 children, that no one seems to want to step up to the plate.

On the up side this last year we saw a huge increase of parents volunteering at our functions.

Any advise out there.

What about having the remainder of the Board share the duties of the President until a replacement can be found? That way the 1st Vice President won't feel overwhelmed, especially since she's new to the Board.

A while back our PTO was lacking a president and the Vice-Principal of the school stepped in until a replacement was found. For short-term it worked out but in the long run, it really became a conflict of interest. Some teachers became more active on the Board at that time too - which was ok, except everything the teachers wanted over the years was approved with little or no discussion. And one of the teachers was paid to perform her duties as the treasurer. (No one knew it at the time, I found out about by reading thru the PTO minute archives). Very few parents attended the meetings during those years...

I was the PTO President this year but am unable to do it next year. I have not been able to find anyone interested in taking the position. We have an entirely new Executive Board for 03-04 and none of them have ever been in executive positions before. Our by-laws state that in the absence of a president the 1st vice pres. assumes the duty of the president. I think that if she new this that she might quit. Afterall she signed on expected that there would be a president. I don't know what to do. Also we are holding an induction of our new board and I haven't a clue on how to run it. Can anyone help?

We always wait until Sept. We still do the planning over the summer. For example--it doesn't matter to me if I am actually an officer, I know I will still do the majority of the work--but if I can get a new parent coming in to take an officer position, I will offer to co-chair or mentor to lessen the learning curve and let them take the glory (what little there is to these types of jobs). We are a Pre-K-1st grade school though, so 1/2 of our prospective pool of parents aren't even in the school yet until September.

We had the same problem. A committee, myself, and the principal begging and pleading everyone we saw. I finally said I would stay on if they couldn't find anyone. At the last minute we napped an unsuspecting Mom in the hall and she agreed. Since you are sick would someone on your board not take over until you could get a replacement? I even threatened on getting on a teacher. Our bylaws an officer has to be a staff member or have a child at our school.

We have sent home several notes home, talked to parents who would be good prospects, even volunteers who have been around. I even went as far as asking the President before me if she would want to come back. No one wants the job. As for our Principal, he's leaving for a better position in the school district, so his mindstays off of PTO and when I ask him questions about it and possibly having everything already set up for next year, he looks at me and says the problem is mine. None of my board members want to go on the board again, even though I did about 80 - 85% of the work. They never even picked up the phone to call parents when I needed them to. I just don't want to see a good thing go to waste. And when we get our new principal - will they even care?