PTA Board & Committee
Chair Job Descriptions
What helps to make Carlisle such a great community? Our parent volunteers of course! Carlisle Elementary School takes great pride in its tremendous parent volunteer support.
You can really make a difference!
We hope that the following information will help you find a role and answer your basic questions about how to join in Carlisle’s volunteer efforts.
Frequently asked Questions
What PTA board and committee positions are available?
How do PTA board positions get filled?
How do PTA committee chair positions get filled?
What are the job responsibilities of board members and chairs?
What kind of files should I keep?
Positions
What PTA board and committee chair positions are available?
PTA board and committee chair positions are open to any Carlisle parent and do not require previous board or PTA experience. If you are interested in a PTA board position for the following school year, you should contact the parliamentarian or a nominating committee member in January or February. You can also request committee involvement - if there is an activity or event for which you would like to be on a committee, reach out to a current PTA board member.
How do PTA board positions get filled?
A nominating committee, coordinated by the current parliamentarian, is elected in January of each school year. This committee then seeks out nominees for each board position and presents a slate of candidates to the membership at the March PTA meeting. Board elections are conducted at the April PTA meeting.
How do PTA committee chair positions get filled?
After a PTA board is elected, the PTA president for the following school year seeks individuals to fill committee chair roles. If you are interested in a PTA committee chair position for the following school year, you should look for announcements in the Howler, or talk to current board or committee members for more information in January or February. The board slate process begins in March, with the new board confirmed in the April general meeting.
return to Frequently Asked Questions
What are the job responsibilities of board members and chairs?
- Plan and execute events that enrich the Carlisle community.
- Volunteer your time and talents, either at the school or behind the scenese.
- Help to recruit and train your successor.
- Keep binders up-to-date; maintain good files
- Attend PTA meetings whenever possible
- Attend the monthly scheduled board meetings throughout the year.
- Contribute articles to the Howler, Facebook and the CarlislePTA.org website.
What kind of files should I keep?
It is of utmost importance that you maintain the binder for your position (or create it if non-existent) and to have a short orientation when you hand it over to your successor. An ideal binder contains:
- a summary of the position, its role and duties within the organization
- a calendar or timeline for your job or event
- your budget
- vendors used
- ideas you tried and liked or didn't like
- fliers you created
- feedback you received
- and anything else you think would help your successor to get a good start
return to Frequently Asked Questions
President
Time Commitment: 4-8 hours per week
Busiest Times of Year: Busiest at the beginning of the year but flattens out; additional special projects as desired
- Manage overall objectives and strategies of PTA
- Act as liaison between parents and principal / staff
- Recruit all PTA Committee Chairs
- Create agenda and facilitate monthly PTA board meetings
- Create agenda and facilitate about 3-4 PTA general meetings
- Create school calendar and budget with Principal and Treasurer
- Speak at Back to School Night and other events
- Attend (or designate someone else to attend) monthly PTA Council meetings, a consortium of the PTA Presidents from all PISD schools that meets in the District Office. Some evening work is involved with this group, too.
VP Programs
Time Commitment: 1-2 hours per week
Busiest Times of Year: Prior to school starting and early part of the school year.
- Explore the possibilities of new and continued after school enrichment programs
- Plan parent and enrichment programs
- Publicize and attract attendance to after school and parent programs
VP Volunteers
Time Commitment: Varies by activity
Busiest Times of Year: Start of school year
The volunteer chairman works with the principal, the teachers, the volunteers, and PISD Volunteer Coordinator. This role includes:
- Create Sign Up Genius or email sign-ups for volunteers as needed.
- Help volunteers become familiar with the school policies, people, programs, and the building itself
- Correlating the needs of teachers with the interests and abilities of volunteers
- Keeping volunteer files current and in order
VP Ways and Means
Time Commitment: 2 hours per week; much more during peak times
Busiest Times of Year: Around our major fund raisers.
- Support committee chairs for key fundraising events.
- Continue to monitor success of fundraisers and recommend changes to fund raising objectives and strategies at Carlisle.
VP Communications
Time Commitment: 2-3 hours a week
Busiest Times of Year: Bi-monthly newsletters, communication needs
- Publicize school events through a bi-monthly online Howler newsletter.
- Obtain information from committee chairs and board members to bring the community up to date on current events and opportunities.
- Publish special event and awareness communications as needed.
- Ensure Facebook remains updated and edit PTA publications as needed.
Webmaster
Time Commitment: 1-2 hours a week
Busiest Times of Year: Beginning of school year, then steady effort throughout the year.
- Maintain Carlisle’s web presence by updating web information and beautifying the site.
- Ensure that paid services are renewed annually. (Domain Registration, Website renewal, etc)
- Manage the Administrative side of the CarlislePTA.org Google Apps account (create email addresses, manage groups, etc)
- Ensure that online calendar content is up-to-date. (with input from board members and committee chairs)
- Support board members with various MembershipToolKit functionalities and features (content, online store, running reports)
Recording Secretary
Time Commitment: 30 hours per year
Busiest Times of Year: Following each PTA meeting
- Take minutes at PTA meetings, then forward to president and Minutes Review Committe.
- Submit minutes for inclusion on the website.
- Make copies of the minutes for the next PTA meeting so they can be approved by the membership.
- Maintain complete records of members and leaders.
- Send communications on behalf of the board of directors.
Treasurer
Time Commitment: 100 hours per year, including attending PTA meetings. Tax return (done by hand) takes about 4 hours
Busiest Times of Year: Beginning of the year due to learning curve; some late Spring/Summer work getting budget ready for Fall with the president.
- Prepare the annual tax return.
- Generate and maintain the PTA budget.
- Inform committees of budgeted funds.
- Pay bills and reimbursements as required.
- Oversee ongoing PTA finances ensure adherence to approved PTA budget.
- Prepare and present budget report for each PTA board and general meeting.
Parliamentarian
Time Commitment: 40 hours annually, without amending any bylaws
Busiest Times of Year: On-going
The first and foremost job/role of the Parliamentarian is:
- Be There. You need to be at all PTA general meetings and all the PTA board meetings.
- Ensure all present at meetings act within Bylaws, and within some approximation of parliamentary procedure.
- Chair the Bylaws Committee and review bylaws and standing rules annually. Formal adoption of new bylaws is completed every other year. This is a good early year task.
- Manage/oversee the Nominating Committee Process. After the Parliamentarian forms the committee, s/he remains available to assist them at their request. However, the Parliamentarian meets with the committee only if she has been elected to the committee.
Year Book/Historian
Time Commitment: 2-3 hours per week
Busiest Times of Year: Early meeting with the yearbook vendor to setup each year. Time required at yearbook release to prepare for and oversee distribution. The yearbook can be assembled as the year progresses.
- Work with a committee of volunteers in taking pictures throughout the school year of different activities and events.
- Request photo submissions from Carlisle families and publicize the methods for submitting pictures, including online and smart phone app.
- Work with the school secretary to finalize list of authorized image release forms.
- Work with Yearbook vendor to create final yearbook pages.
- Facilitate the labeling and distribution of all ordered yearbooks.
PTA Membership
Time Commitment: Up to 8 hours; Good job for parent working daytime hours
Busiest Times of Year: September
- Review and plan membership drives according to the Membership Awards deadlines posted on TxPTA.org
- Develop article for Howler for each membership drive.
- Collect, count, and deposit money with treasurer.
- Generate a monthly report of new members to be submitted to TexasPTA.
- Develop bulletin notices to list and thank all paid members.
Council Delegate
Time Commitment: Up to 5 hours a month
Busiest Times of Year: Around PISD Council meeting dates
The role of the council delegate is to receive information from the council (Plano ISD Council of PTAs), report actions back to the local unit (Carlisle PTA), and vote as directed by the local unit membership. Responsibilities include:
- Attend all council general (regular) meetings.
- Attend all meetings of the local unit.
- Represent the local unit as a voting member of the council body.
- Participate in council discussions and deliberations.
- Take careful notes at the council meeting.
- Fill out a council delegate report form and turn it in to the local unit president to be filed with the secretary.
- Report announcements, important actions, and the program/speaker to the local association and/or its executive board.
- Place announcements of council activities in the Howler.
Sage Chair
Time Commitment: 3 hours per month, based on activities
Busiest Times of Year: Based on activities
SAGE stands for Special and Gifted Education and the mission of our SAGE Committee is to provide an opportunity for families and teachers of students who learn differently to share resources and friendship. SAGE volunteers at both Council and local Chapter PTAs work together to provide education, communication and support.
Hospitality
Time Commitment: 5-8 hours per month
Busiest Times of Year: On-going
- Recruit committee of helpers and focus on making all /staff feel welcome at Carlisle.
- This includes hosting several events during the school year including teacher luncheons and back to school events
Book Fairs
Time Commitment: 75 hours per year
Busiest Times of Year: Very intense for the weeks surrounding the Fall and Spring Book Fairs
- Coordinate the marketing, sales, set-up and tear-down, staffing (with assistance of VP Volunteers), inventory control, and overall operations of our Fall and Spring Book Fairs.
- Prior to each book fair, coordinate with PTA Treasurer a schedule for depositing cash on a nightly basis.
- A team of chair persons is preferable.
Chair of Cultural Diversity/Inclusiveness
Time Commitment: 75 hours annually
Busiest Times of Year: Surrounding Multicultural Night
- Complies with and promotes the Inclusiveness Committee of the Texas PTA Board of Directors' mission: "To continually be a voice for all children by reflecting diversity and being inclusive in our membership, leadership, program content, advocacy, training, partnerships and communications."
- Promotes cultural awareness and communication among all cultural groups.
- Organizes and participates in school and community events that promote this mission, including responsibility for school's annual multicultural event.
Environmental/Recycling Chair
- Promote participation in America Recycles Day, Earth Day, Texas/National Arbor Day.
- Work with community organizations that promote environmental priorities, such as the City of Plano Sustainability and Environmental Education Division.
- Encourage campus participation in activities that promote “reduce-reuse-recycle” practices on campus.
- Sponsor an after-school environmental club for students in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade.
- Maintain plants at entrance of School
Youth Protection
- Coordinate and schedule Cafeteria Cops with the Plano Police Department
- Plan activities around Crime Prevention Month (Oct), Child Safety Month (Nov) and Bike Safety Month (May)
Directory
Time Commitment: 10 hours in total
Busiest Times of Year: August, September, October
- Compile data collected from the PTA President and VP Membership
- Work with PTA President and school Secretary for any changes in content or format.
- Communicate to PTA Members the online location of the PTA Directory. (2015-16 Go Green initiative)
School Supplies & Student Planners
Time Commitment: About 30 hours in total
Busiest Times of Year: February-May & August
- Work with the PTA Board, Principal, teachers (as necessary) and a school supply vendor to assemble a Carlisle specific school supply packet for each grade level.
- Coordinate orders and work with PTA and school office to deliver purchased supplies to the appropriate classrooms prior to the first day of school.
- Place the order for student planners
- School supply packet creation time commitment falls mostly in February for the upcoming school year.
- Coordination of orders and volunteers to deliver supplies and student planners to the classrooms for the first day of school occurs in August.
Marquee/Bulletin Board
Busiest Times of Year: On-going
- Change the sign in front of the school to reflect events for the week.
- Update the fliers hanging on bulletin boards at school entrance
Spirit Wear
Busiest Times of Year: Beginning of school year
- Design and order Carlisle Elementary Spirit Wear items. Work with a vendor to create the design.
- Fill incoming orders placed through our online system and facilitate the delivery of items to students.
- Utilize the "Order Fulfillment" features of Membership Toolkit so as to keep track of all orders filled.
Restaurant Nights
Time Commitment: about 1- 2 hours a month
Busiest Times of Year: Prior to school starting
- Schedule and plan monthly/bimonthly restaurant nights using the principal approved school activity calendar. Securing the dates in the summer is best.
Community Incentives/Box Tops/My School’s Cool
Communicate with neighboring grocery stores to make sure our incentive programs are still valid. Collect and organize the submission of Box Tops. Send monthly reminders to Communications Chairperson to assure advertising of events.
Carlisle Elementary PTA
