The Basics

• The PTA President is the chair of the meeting and is responsible for creating the agenda and running the meeting

• Meetings follow an agenda to keep order and to stay on track. All PTAs follow Robert’s Rules of Order. Click here for more information.

• Meetings start promptly and are typically less than an hour long

• If the President can’t attend a meeting, a VP will run the meeting in their absence

• In-person meetings offer free childcare for all potty-trained kids

Virtual Meetings

Our meetings switch between in-person and virtual. Virtual meetings are identical to in-person meetings, but we have a few suggestions to make them more productive:

• Try to log on five minutes early. Once the meeting starts it can be distracting to the chair to simultaneously run the meeting and let additional participants in.

• Double and triple check that you are muted. We often pick up background noise and it can be hard to hear what’s being discussed with kids, animals, television, and talking happening in the background.

• If possible, keep your camera on. Visual voting works best when the chair asks for hand-raising for votes. Because not all participant boxes show up on their screen, the little “raise hand” icon can’t always be seen by the chair, and they could miss your vote.

• If you can’t keep your camera on, putting “I vote yes,” or “I vote no,” in the chat box is helpful in tallying votes.

• Feel free to use the chat box to add comments or ask questions throughout the meeting.

The Meeting Process

The agenda format consistently includes:

• A call to order

• Secretary report

• Principal report

• RO School Board Member report

• Teacher report

• President report

• Treasurer report

• Committee reports

• Old business

• New business

• Meeting adjournment

• If a member wants to discuss something specific/ make a motion at a meeting, member must email the President 48 hours prior to the meeting to be added to the agenda

  Here are the steps to making a motion at a meeting:

  • Chair recognizes member for the floor

    • Please state your name for the secretary to record in the minutes

  • Member makes a motion starting with “I move to…” or “I’d like to make a motion to…” and is specific in the wording of the motion

    • Example: When we need the previous meeting minutes approved, member would state “I move to approve the minutes from the April meeting.” (Stating the specific month)

    • Member should avoid vague statements like “I move to approve minutes.”

  • Another member must second the motion (state your name for the secretary)

  • Chair repeats the motion and asks for discussion

  • The floor is open for members to discuss or debate motion

  • Chair calls for a vote

  • Chair announces the results of the vote and what happens with the motion