This topic hit home with me...I am finising my 7th (yes, 7th) year chairing our art appreciation committee. Throughout year 3, I talked about how I was going to pass the committee along to anyone else interested in chairing. No one took the bait so I have stayed on...and on.

I love this program and will be sad to leave it when my last child leaves the school in three more years. If someone told me I had to quit as chair because of some rule or bylaw, I would be devastated and resentful. I'm sure there's some selfishness on my part, but I really think I'm doing a good job and the program is thriving (I judge that based on the number of volunteers who repeat on the committee and the feedback from the teachers). To hand it off simply because our bylaws says so, isn't necessarily the best thing for the students.

Over the years I have refined the program and have created a system that will make the eventual transition to a new chair go smoothly. I have developed tools and materials and historical files far better over 7 years than I could have in just 2 or 3 years as chairman. So, there's a real benefit to the longevity if your chair strives to continually improve the program. Ask for and expect a comprehensive year-end report so the board can ensure the chair is still on her toes. Maybe insist that any chair who has held the job for more than 2 years must have a "younger" co-chair (or resign) for her last year at the school. That would help with transition.

If the job is being done well, I say let the leader keep the job; it seems detrimental to the success of the program to shake things up for the sake of change. Put a review process in place, but don't mandate term limits for committees or you might cut off someone who isn't finished giving yet. OK, off the soap box.... [img]smile.gif[/img]

Michelle--are you SURE you can't move into our neck of the woods? We could REALLY use you! :cool:

Hi Bertha,

I thought,as well as being told, that PTA does not recognize co-chairs?

Your bylaws are your laws. You follow them. If you want a co-chair to be recognized, you put them into your bylaws.

Does one of the co-chairs get the voting rights at the board meetings and the other doesn't?

Again, it all depends on what your bylaws state. There is no rule that co-chairs are unable to vote unless your own bylaws do not afford them voting rights as part of the executive board.
For example, one of our units states in their bylaws that the executive board is comprised of elected officers, Principal, one teacher rep for each grade, committee chairs and co-chairs.
Co-chairs in that case, have a vote.
You can ammend your bylaws to state that and after the vote, send the ammendment to state, rather than redoing the entire bylaws.

If they disagree on something is it up to the committee to decide on what they want or is that the Presidents job to step in or is it up to the board?

Technically, this is how a committee is supposed to work. The chair puts together their committee comprised of the volunteers. The committee then discusses and hashes out what they intend to do and they vote within their committee. (I strongly encourage all chairs to attend our Robert's Rules trainings so that they can understand what they are supposed to be doing)
Once the committee has agreed to something, it is then voted on at the executive level. "Presented by a committee, it needs no second. Discussion. Vote."
The chair has the job just as you would as the chair of your committee. You don't get to go in and make all the decisions. You facilitate the discussions and your committee (executive board) decides. It is supposed to be the same with the chairs. Also, as President, you are member ex-officio of each committee. You could possibly be a deciding vote if the committee is at a standstill.
As for the method on who and how committee chairs are chosen and their terms, it is also a good idea to include that in your bylaws as well, I would assume there is something already but I have seen specific bylaws and others that leave things rather vague. Vagueness is okay if you can all agree and get along but if there are issues, it's better to be able to stand behind your bylaws by making them specific.
As for peoples' feelings, I think you and I are basically saying the same thing..

Everyone deserves a chance(new or old)... After all isn't it supposed to be about whats best for the kids not the parents and their ego's. By allowing new people to chair you build a better and stronger membership and can offer more to the school and the children. This also shows the new people that they are welcome and that this is their school as well.

I don't disagree with that, and I am not saying that to save the feelings of the current apron strings chairs, you exclude the new. Only that you attempt to make these chairs that are holding on, feel as though, they are still important and just as the new are valued that they too have something to contribute.
I say this because as a member of the new school PTA board a few years ago, the President's thinking was that all committee chairs would be new. But she cut the old out entirely. There were hurt feelings and as a result, there was noone with experience and committee chairs, basically started from scratch. They did their best but could have used "the voice of experience" to help them.(I knew some of the people who were cut out and if it had been handled differently, they would have remained involved, while still allowing fresh blood in the mix)
I realize that some won't handle it well no matter what but I only think that kindness should be attempted to welcome the new, without alienating the old. If there are still hard feelings, it wasn't because you didn't try.
By the way, I'm glad that you finally registered!! Congrats!

Michelle, I love the idea about co-chairing for a year.It makes perfect sense if the old chair is willing to help out and teach the new chair.

About the "people's feelings" over by us we have people who have chaired the same committee for 5 or more years. They won't show anyone the ropes and keep everthing a big, dark secret. Then when they finally leave the school we get a chance to get new people involved.They feel they own the school and their committee and no one else can run it as they did.

I feel this is so very wrong. Everyone deserves a chance(new or old). This is what happened in my school(before I took over as President).

Since last year people know that they have a chance to chair a committee. The oldtimers know if they want to chair they have to be willing to work with others and do whats best for the school, not whats best for them!

After all isn't it supposed to be about whats best for the kids not the parents and their ego's. By allowing new people to chair you build a better and stronger membership and can offer more to the school and the children. This also shows the new people that they are welcome and that this is their school as well.

At our school we do have a few personalities that won't work with co-chairs. Thank god they're leaving the school in June.

Now that I've gone on and on, my questions to you are: I thought,as well as being told, that PTA does not recognize co-chairs? Does one of the co-chairs get the voting rights at the board meetings and the other doesn't? Do they alternate?If they disagree on something is it up to the committee to decide on what they want or is that the Presidents job to step in or is it up to the board?

I love your idea and would love to try it out on a few committees I just need to understand a little more. Thanks for any help you can give me!!

Why not suggest to have a policy that states that a person cannot be a main chair for more than (insert # here) years and will become co-chair at the end of their term? That way, you will always have someone with experience and someone to learn from the experienced.

kma- it's not about peoples feeling, it should be about who will do the best job for the school.

I don't entirely disagree with Bertha but people's feeling should be taken into account to some extent. No one should be left feeling unwelcomed or unappreciated. Step lightly but carry a big stick!

kma- it's not about peoples feeling, it should be about who will do the best job for the school.

We sat down yesterday to select our chairs. Out of all the committees we only had 2 repeat chairs and 1 committee we're still searching for a chair. All the rest are new people( ones who have never chaired before).

We feel by bringing in new people it keeps the ideas, programs and fundraisers fresh, new and exciting. We're tired of the same old, same old!

It also works to our benefit of keeping our membership high and parent involvement high. If you have the same people running the same committees year after year things get stale fast.

Give the new president a chance, I know she wants to do the right thing and she does want to go by the book. She's been doing her homework!