Here is that section of our bylaws. Note also, there's a statement under the President's duties that the president shall "Be a member ex-officio of all standing and special committees but shall not serve on the nominating committee."
ELECTION OF OFFICERS
Section 1
A nominating committee shall be created for the purpose of selecting candidates for presentation to the general meeting where elections for the following year are being held.
Section 2
The nominating committee shall be chaired by the Past President and comprised of a current PTO Board Member, a faculty/administration member and a parent. This committee shall include a minimum of two non-board members.
Section 3
The nominating committee shall have at least three members and always an uneven number.
Section 4
The Executive Board shall solicit volunteers to be voted on by the Executive Board to become members of this committee.
Section 5
A public announcement soliciting volunteers or nominations for the Executive Board shall be sent out a minimum of two weeks prior to elections.
Section 6
The annual election of officers for the Executive Board shall be held at the May general membership meeting, occurring prior to the end of the school year.
Section 7
If there is only one candidate for any office, by motion from the floor, the election for that office may be by voice vote.
Section 8
The nominating committee shall present a slate of candidates for each Executive Board position. It shall not be limited to one candidate per office.
Section 9
No person may run for two different offices.
Section 10
Nominations for elected officers may be made from the floor at the election meeting provided each nominee has registered with the chairperson of the nominating committee at least five days prior to the election meeting. His/her name must then be placed in nomination from the floor at the election meeting. No unregistered nominations may be made from the floor at the election meeting.
Section 11
If an office remains unfilled after the election, it shall be considered a vacant office to be filled by a person elected by a majority vote of the new Executive Board, all members of the new Executive Board having been notified.
Section 12
All resignations must be made in writing to the PTO President and the School Principal.
If you email me I have a set of guidelines that I put together for our Nominations committee. Issues they needed to be aware of and what things they needed to do so that we made sure we ran in accordance with the By-laws.
We had a 5 member nominating committee, with 2 alternates. I do not recommend having the Principal be one of the members. It should be from the general membership--for reasons previously given. Those nominated still have to be voted in by the general membership. There can/should be nominations taken on the floor. So perhaps if you dont like who has been nominated, find someone willing to fill the spot (and willing to "campaign"). Then take a vote during the meeting. Our Pres stayed out of the nominating thing. The principal was witness to counting the ballots, with the Asst Principal. And I believe the Historian and Treasurer actually counted the ballots.
Our elementary PTO has the Pres.-elect as chairman of the nominating committee with six other persons not on the exec. board (they can be committee chairmen). You cannot serve on the nominating committee two years in a row unless you were a committee chair one year and then the Pres.-elect next year. It keeps out the people who like to pad the board with their buddies and no one else. We also send home a form with all students that allows parents to self nominate for a position.
