CHATSWORTH PTA
COMMITTEE CHAIR INFORMATION SHEET
Thank you for volunteering to run a PTA Committee. This sheet should answer many of your questions. Please bring additional questions to the Vice President in charge of your committee.
Most committees run on a 2 year cycle, with each committee chair in their role for 2 school years. When the committee has co-chairs, it is best if the 2 positions roll off on alternate years (so that there is one experienced head each year). When it is time to turn over a committee to new leadership, it is expected that the out-going chair(s) will make an effort to find suitable candidates to suggest to their VP, since those who have done the job are most qualified to find replacements. For some of the busier committees, it helps to have the new chair identified before the retiring chair finishes the job so that the new chair can “shadow” the process.
If you need a committee, it is your responsibility to recruit help. The PTA compiles a volunteer database. Your VP will forward the names and contact information for any parents that are interested in helping on your committee. You can also ask for volunteers by placing an item in The Friday sheet.
If you are having trouble getting people to join your committee, let your VP know and s/he will bring it to the attention of the Executive Board.
The general membership of the Chatsworth PTA approves an overall budget in September of each school year.
You will be given a budget for your committee from your VP in the fall. In the spring, we will ask for your feedback on your budget to see if any adjustments should be made for the following year.
If you are the head of a fundraising committee, please know that your budget is projected, but not expected. No one is criticized if their committee does not achieve its goal. We use the budget for our overall planning but do not want undue pressure on revenue producing committees to make “enough” money.
All approved volunteer expenditures for committee expenses are reimbursable by the PTA. Reimbursement forms are available as a download off the website and in the Expense/Check Requests box outside the main office. Completed forms with receipts require the signature of the VP and should be left in the PTA Treasurer’s box, also in the office. A check will be mailed to your home.
Before committing to large and/or new expenses, you need to notify your VP. S/he will seek approval of the expense from the Executive Board.
Your Committee may use building space during and outside of school hours on an as-available basis.
Use of the common areas is recorded on a wall calendar in the Main Office. If you want to use a common space, please speak to Donna Williams in the office.
All use of school space outside of regular school hours, needs to be requested through a Building Use Form. These triplicate forms can be found in the filing cabinets in the main office under “Building”. Fill one out and leave for Gail Boyle’s signature.
Forms do not need to be filled out for use of space during the school day.
All contracts must be signed by the PTA Co-Presidents only.
You are welcome to investigate new vendors and make recommendations to the Executive Board, but nothing can be committed to without authority.
Contracts are to be forwarded to the Co-Presidents for review and signature.
We are making an effort to minimize our copy costs and use the internet. Any flyers, letters, etc to be sent out must be approved by your VP and the PTA Co-Presidents.
If you are running a large event, please have an approved communication plan in place with your sub-committees. This will help us manage our copy costs and minimize paper waste. An email can be sent to notify parents about event information or enrollment forms which are on our website. To post information on our website, please email Melinda Lehman at mlh45@cornell.edu.
If you would like to publicize your event to the local media, please contact Publicity Chair, Linda Heaney at lgheaney@msn.com
Information can also be put into The Friday sheet.
All committees are welcome to put information in The Friday Sheet.
The Friday Sheet has a section for PTA announcements and information.
Items for The Friday Sheet must be forwarded to Celeste Sharpe, (cysharpe@optonline.net), by Tuesday at 6:00pm if it is to be included in the current week. Please note that all items are subject to editing.
The Friday sheet is reviewed by Gail Boyle and the PTA Co-Presidents. If we run out of space, a submission may be held until the following week if it is not time sensitive.
Email broadcasts:
This year, we will be using email as our primary communication tool. We will utilize our master email list for the school, which can be sorted by grade. We will use this list to send out periodic emails to groups of parents to keep them posted on important or timely PTA matters. We will be using this email chain to send out regular communications, with the exception of The Friday Sheet.
We will not use this email chain to advertise any non-PTA supported events.
If you have an item that you would like to be distributed through this email chain, you must email your submission to the PTA Co-Presidents, who will, if approved, forward it to the Email Communications Manager for distribution. All submissions are subject to editing.
Please only make copies after getting approval from your VP.
The copiers at the school are available to us; however, priority of use is always with the school faculty and staff. The copy room is often busy before school and during lunch. We must always cede use to the school. It is best to use this machine during non prime hours.
If necessary, copies can be done at an outside copy service. Please consult your VP for additional information.
Copy runs for the whole school require 25 copies per class. There are 30 classes and the office would like a set, so please order or make 31 sets of copies.
Once the copies are made, please leave a set of copies in each of the teachers’ mail boxes in the office. All teachers do not sent flyers home every day so plan accordingly. Many seem to do it only on Fridays, so flyers need to be in mailboxes Thursday afternoon.
Many committees keep a binder/file of information for passage to the next Committee Chair. As you take your committee forward, please continue to add to the history file or begin one of your own.
It is the responsibility of the outgoing Committee Chair to inform their replacement.
THANK YOU!