Why not just speak with her and make sure she is aware of what is expected of her and if she will forsee any issue in fulfilling the position and doing what needs to be done. The fact that you say she does a lot of work for her child's class shows she is competent if she wants to be. Maybe there are reasons she did not count money or chair an event.
The person we appointed president has since changed jobs and is basically never available but is always saying the PTO will do this and then I get called. She also gets upset because she thinks we are taking things away from her when we are just trying to get them done in a timely-by this I mean not late-manner. She is not even attending the meeting because she can't leave work. She knew she was getting a new job so why did she sign on for this? I'm not sure how to help you but maybe you could politely inform her that her assistance and leadership in needed and ultimately required for things to go smoothly. Maybe she just needs a push to make her actions meet the level of her ideas.
The irony of commitment is that it’s deeply liberating-in work, in play, in love. The act frees you from the tyranny of your internal critic, from the fear that likes to dress itself up and parade around as rational hesitation. To commit is to remove your head as the barrier to your life. --Anne Morris
I am president of our PTO. We generally do a one-year term as president, although our bylaws say you can do a maximum of two. Generally no one stays for two because we have a large school and do a lot of fundraising.
We don't have a vice president, we just have a president-elect who is supposed to learn the ropes for a year before taking office. We lost our whole board last year except me (not for bad reasons, just other commitments) so no one moved up. So I don't have a president-elect and the position is open.
I have a woman who we approached for the job last year and she turned us down. She is well-spoken and comes to every meeting so we thought she might make a good candidate. We don't get a lot of volunteers so we were really grasping for people.
This fall, when she saw the position was still empty she offered to step in. The only problem is that since last spring, when we initially approached her, I have come to realize that this woman is all talk and no action. She has NEVER volunteered at one of our events, didn't take on a committee position, and never just pitches in to help - like when we were counting money from gift wrap last week. She is the room parent of her child's class and does a lot of work for them, but that's not the same thing as working on fundraisers and leading a group.
What would you do about this situation? I need to find someone to back me up because I may have to move next summer and may not be able to do a second term. Would you take on someone who doesn't show the initiative to actually work on our events?
