We are a newly formed parent group. Some things I am doing to help be respectful of our principal and teachers time, as well as our board members, is have one of my officers be a timer. I give each item on the agenda 5 minutes, our principal gets 10 minutes. My timer will voice the 4 minute mark (in principal's case 9 minute mark) in order for the person to know they need to get to a conclusion. Only if there is debate on an item will we go over that time. This way everyone knows to stay on task.
A side note, as President I call most of my officers prior to the board meeting just to check on them, discuss what needs to be accomplished before the meeting, offer help or suggestions, etc. This is a way of helping officers learn to have office/committee work done before the meeting, and be prepared to request what help they need or board approval at the meeting. Within 2 meetings, we have seen a big difference in the length of our meeting time. I am hoping in a couple of months we won't need to have a timer, as everyone will have learned what they need to accomplish.
After I call the meeting to order, I introduce any new attendees and ask them to tell everyone what children & where they are at the school. I then ask them if they are interested in any particular area of volunteering, and if none to please feel free to speak/comment or share ideas and PLEASE COME AGAIN. I then have the officers go around the room and introduce themselves to the newbies.
Lastly, I have an Executive Board Motto that is on every board meeting Agenda in bold. It is "COMMUNICATION, TEAMWORK, NO GUILT". This was something I personally wanted for our board, as past experience has taught me, all our parents work hard and do many things for our school & children. Sometimes things unexpected come up that demand presidence and that board members just won't have the time/ability to complete a task that has been assigned to them. This way I am reminding them to 1) Communicate this to me (President) 2) We (board) are all a team 3) NOT TO FEEL GUILTY. I have found so far this is not only helping the officers to ask for help, but also aids in alleviating stress overload. These are just a few tidbits that I thought I'd share that hopefully might help others. Since we are all in this together, helping our children.