I'm seriously considering running for PTA president at kiddo's school and am wondering what experiences folks have had, especially if you had a full time job as well. I had a great convo with the current president (who's a working mom with 2 special needs kids herself) and it's making me think it's doable but I'm worried about overcommitting. Would love folks' experiences!
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My husband is the PTO treasurer in addition to working full-time with kids ages 2 & 4 (he's done it since the first one was born). He also has a side hustle that is semi-flexible. I work full-time and have a part-time job, soooo, it's not like I'm waiting in the wings to support his commitments.
It's been manageable. For him, it's a 2-hour long meeting bi-weekly, plus about 2 extra hours on his own time of bookkeeping. We volunteer at a school event every other month or so.
The PTO president does a LOT more though, more than necessary. She does a lot of during-school events that she volunteers at (like the PTO runs the book fair for a week during school hours so she's there for 40 hours, etc). She's a SAHM though with no kids at home during the day.....
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It really depends on how active the other board members and volunteers are. President can have a great deal of oversight that isn’t a huge burden or they can get sucked into everything. The more active and accountable all board members are the easier it should be for the president.
I’m currently treasurer on our board and I do think it would be tough to be president if you have never served on the board before. I learned so much about our school and PTA while being treasurer.
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Haven't been on PTA but have been a nonprofit board member. One of my least favorite experiences. It was such a huge time commitment and then lots of crises and other issues to sort out. At least in my experience, the time commitment I am told up front is always at least double...
I'm glad others have more positive experiences though (and again mine was nonprofit instead of PTA, so that could br why).
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I helped start the PTA at our preschool. The core group of moms was amazing and it was fun and got a few things done. We did it as shared leadership. Do you have anything else on your plate right now? Perhaps if you can dedicate one to two hours a week plus time for an occasional event then it is doable. You could probably dedicate less time with a strong team.
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4 comments