PTA Training

Training Documents

Did you know, Santiago Elementary PTA has been holding regular meetings since 1974?   Today, we typically raise and spend over $50,000 per year to benefit our students.

We know that meeting motions and paperwork procedures may seem tedious, overwhelming and boring.   However, these are the foundation of allowing a group of parent volunteers with diverse backgrounds and opinions to invest fundraised money back into our school and students.    We follow the same rules and procedures that all California State PTAs are expected to follow.

Our PTA is a 501c3 nonprofit that operates independently from our school.   School Staff does not have access to our PTA bank accounts. PTA events, activities, and actions to re-invest funds into our school are entirely planned and implemented by volunteers.   Without volunteers to take board positions, our PTA would disband and our school would need to depend solely on district funds and small directed donations.  

Group Decision Making and Transparency ensures that

• Everyone has the opportunity to participate in discussions and vote
• We always have record of the decisions that were made
• We all review each others reports and make recommendations to improve procedures
• New members learn as they go while experienced officers demonstrate proper procedures
• The entire board is responsible for completing the Board Duties
• No one person is responsible for the success or failure of our PTA
• No one person can remove money from the account without approval
• Program decisions belong to the Program chair
• All on-campus activities are approved by the Principal

Every member should:

• Attend Association Meetings when available (We only have 5 per year)
  • September, November, January, March, May
• Consider being a board member, project chair, or on a special committee
  • Audit Review Committee
  • Bylaws Update Committee
  • Budget Committee
  • Nominating Committee
  • Website/Social Media Team

Executive Board

• Job Descriptions Overview  – It takes a Village!
• Calendar of Board Duties – Items needed to remain a PTA in good standing
• READ THE BYLAWS – Governing Document of our Association every member should read
• President
  • President’s Checklist
  • Saddleback Valley Presidents Support Site
  • Running Your PTA Made Easy
  • How to Run a Meeting
  • Sample Meeting Agenda
• Secretary
  • Sample Minutes
• Treasurer
  • Treasurer’s Monthly Checklist
  • Budgeting Procedures
  • Sample Budget
  • CAPTA Taxes Filing Support
  • Maintaining Tax Exempt Status
• Auditor
  • Audit Process Step-by-Step
  • Audit Checklist Form
  • Audit Report Form
• Parliamentarian
  • Bylaws Process Step-by-step
  • Unit Bylaws Worksheet
  • Nominating/Elections Step-by-Step
  • Nominating Checklist
  • Election Checklist
  • Nominating Committee Report Form
• Historian
  • Historians Report
• Vice Presidents
  • Santiago has 3 VPs who recruit and support Program chairs (or run programs themselves).  Note that these lists are just examples of past programs.   The Board and Association will approve program ideas annually and assign them to a VP for support, but the VP is not responsible for implementing every idea.  Nothing happens unless a Project Chair makes it happen.
  • Projects can be co-chaired and a volunteer may chair multiple projects.  Board positions cannot be shared and nobody can hold multiple board positions.
  • 1st VP of Student Services
    • Staff/School support such as Spirit Wear, Yearbook, First Day Packet Assembly, Picture Day, Staff Appreciation Weeks, School Donations, Staff Reimbursements, and Campus Improvement projects.
    • 1st VP also presides at meetings in the Presidents absence and is a check signer.
  • 2nd VP of Parent Services
    • Community Support such as Family Events, Ice Cream Social, Fall Festival, Glow Party, Red Ribbon Week, Academic and Educational Programs, Parent and High school volunteers
  • 3rd VP of Ways and Means
    • Fundraisers such as Silent Auction, Book Fair, Raise Craze, Jogathon, Restaurant Nights, Painless Fundraisers

Vice President and Project Chair Training

• Always Review your program ideas with the Principal First!  The principal must approve any activity on campus, involving staff, or messaging that goes out though flyers, Bloomz, or posters on campus.
• Project Approval Process
  • CAPTA Insurance Policy – Check the “Red/Yellow Light” page to see if your project is restricted by PTA.
  • SVUSD Facility Reservation System – Check with the principal if your project requires a District Reservation.
• Budget Approval and Check Request Process – Get your Budget Approved and released before you need the check.
  • Check Request/Payment Authorization Form – Submit to Treasurer for ALL reimbursements or invoices to be paid.
  • Cash Verification Form – Anytime Cash or Checks are collected, this form should be filled out in the presence of two people and signed.
• Promote Your Program – Flyers, Bloomz, Social Media, Website
• SVPTA Step by Step guide for Approving Programs involving Donations of Funds or Equipment
  • Fiduciary Agreement – Form used for making Donations of Funds or Equipment to the school
• Past Examples of Flyers, Checklists and information regarding Past Santiago Events are on our Shared PTA Google Drive.  Please contact info@santiagopta.com to request access.
  • 2018 Santiago STEAM Project Checklists

Additional Training Materials (Higher levels of PTA often hold training workshops/events)

• CAPTA Detailed Job Descriptions
• SVPTA Council Website – Every Board Officer has an advisor at the Saddleback Valley level PTA council.
• 4th District – The Orange County District level of PTA
• CAPTA Website – The California State level of PTA
• PTA.org – National PTA
• CAPTA Toolkit – a 440 page PDF file with all rules and recommendations on following procedure, regardless of if your PTA has 20 members or 2000.
• Facebook PTO/PTA Leaders Group – not affiliated with CAPTA, but a great group to join to share strategies and struggles with other PTA volunteers.
• Training Videos – Recordings of past Training zoom sessions from 4th district