What helps to make Prescott High School Parent Teacher Student Association (PHS PTSA) such a great community? Our parent volunteers of course! PHS takes great pride in its tremendous parent volunteer support. You can really make a difference! We hope that the following information will help you find a role and answer your basic questions about how to join in Prescott High School s volunteer effort. Contents Page -Cover Page 1 -Introduction & Overview of PTSA Roles 2-3 -PTSA Board and Committee Job Descriptions 4-8 -Frequently Asked Questions about Volunteering 9-10 Thank you for your contribution to our PHS PTSA community! 1 revised 8/5/14
Introduction & Overview of PTSA Roles PHS is a wonderful community because of its extensive parental support and the volunteer contributions of people just like you! Job descriptions for PTSA board and committee chair roles are on the following pages. To get you started, here are the answers to a few commonly asked questions: What PTSA board positions are available? PTSA board positions are open to any PHS parent who is a PTSA member and these positions do not require previous board or PTA, PTSA or PTO experience. If you are interested in a PTSA board position for following school year, you should contact the President, or a member of the nominating committee. The positions are President, Vice President, Treasurer, and Secretary. (Membership can be an officer position or chair) How do PTSA board positions get filled? A nominating committee, coordinated by the current President, is elected in February of each school year. This committee then seeks out nominees for each board position and presents a slate of candidates to the membership at the March PTSA meeting. Board elections are conducted at the April PTSA meeting. At the final meeting in May, the new Board Members are welcomed by the outgoing members. Sometimes, there are not a lot of people interested in the board and 4-5 people sign up for the jobs without needing a nominating committee. How do PTSA committee chair positions get filled and what are they? Once a PTSA board is elected, the PTSA President for the following school year will begin seeking individuals to fill committee chair roles. If you are interested in a PTSA committee chair position of the following school year, you should look for announcements on the PHS PTSA Facebook page, the PHS PTSA parent page, or an email from the administration at PHS, bulletin announcements associated with Power School, or talk with the President-Elect in March or April. Committee Chairs include but are not limited to Hospitality Chairperson, Assistant Hospitality Chairperson, Fry s Community Rewards Chairperson, escrip Chairperson, Labels for Education Chairperson, Grad Night Chairperson (this year end party starts planning in August every year and takes about 65 people to organize, plan and run the annual party), Membership Chairperson (can either be a Board Position or a Chairperson), Communications Chairperson, Fundraising Chairperson, Renaissance Program Chairperson, and Legislative Chairperson. Sometimes there are not enough people available to take on each, do the Officers have to take on these jobs. These positions are filled in May of each year, or during the summer. What are the basic and shared job responsibilities of board members and chairs? Help to recruit and train your successor Keep binders up-to-date: maintain good files Attend PTSA meetings whenever possible 2 revised 8/5/14
What are the basic job responsibilities of board members? All of the above, plus: Attend board meetings scheduled as needed throughout the school year Act as liaison between President and board and those Chairs who fall in to your subject area (e.g.: VP-Fundraising needs to serve as liaison between PTSA Board President) and Chairs of Fry s Community Rewards, escrip, donations and Dippin Dots ( 20 % ) paid to the PTSA from the Varsity Home Football Games) Try to attend PUSD school board meetings to get more involved with the district needs. What kind of files should I keep? It is a great help if you create and/or audit a binder for your position and to have a short orientation when you hand it over to your successor. An ideal binder contains a summary of the position, a calendar or time line for your job or event, your budget, vendors used, ideas you tried and liked or didn t like, fliers you created, feedback you received, and anything else you think would help your successor to get a good start. 3 revised 8/5/14
PHS PTSA Board and Committee Job Descriptions President Time Commitment: 4-8 hours per week Busiest Times of the Year: Busiest at the beginning and end of the year. Special projects as desired. Manage overall objectives and strategies of PTSA Co-sign checks with Treasurer and or VP Duties as described in Unit By-Laws Act as liaison between parents and principal/staff Recruit all PTSA Committee Chairs Create agenda and facilitate monthly PTSA meetings Attend 3-4 PUSD school board meetings, annually Write a periodic PTSA News, announcements, and bulletins Sign all contracts that have been approved by the Executive Board (President, VP, Treasurer, Secretary, Membership) Create a school calendar and budget with the Principal, Principal s Secretary, and treasurer Review PTA by-laws and update PTSA unit Standing Rules, get approved by board Submit a list of the new Officers at the end of the school year to AZPTA. Speak at the Freshman Badger Day event and be available at the Sophomore, Junior and Senior Orientation for new students, Meet the Teacher Night and the Honors Assembly at the end of the year Attend (or designate someone else to attend) monthly PTSA site council meetings, a consortium of the PTA, PTSO, PTSA Presidents from all PUSD schools that meets in the district office. Some evening work is involved with this group Attend (if finances are available) the annual AZ PTA convention in Phoenix in May or June of each year Vice President Time Commitment: Busiest Times of the Year: 4-8 hours per week Busiest at the beginning and the end of year. Special projects as desired. Assist President as needed throughout the year Help fill Committee Chairs for various committees Attend the Budget Meeting to prepare budget with President and Treasurer for the upcoming year Attend the calendar meeting to help prepare the calendar for the upcoming year Co-sign checks with Treasurer and or President Assist President with PTSA general, executive, board and or site council meetings. Some evening work is involved with this group. 4 revised 8/5/14
Recruit and support committee chairs for key fund-raising events. Continue to monitor success of fundraisers and to recommend changes to fund-raising objectives and strategies at PHS Treasurer Time Commitment: Busiest Times of the Year: 1 to 4 hours per week, including attending PTSA Meetings Coordinate and prepare monthly status, budget updates and Annual tax returns Beginning of the year due to the learning curve (if new) some summer work getting budget ready for new school year. Prepare and co-sign checks with President and or VP Keep track of the budget and remind the President or VP if something is coming up Maintain good cash receipts (deposits) and cash disbursements (expenses) records with original or copies of invoices with noted checks written on each bill and on money coming in by name date and what the money is for. Pay reimbursements. Yearly Tax Returns by October Deposit or manage escrip (monthly auto deposit in checking account) and quarterly payments by check from Fry s Community Rewards Program. Annual Insurance Premium is due in May of every year for the upcoming year. AZ PTA membership dues are payable in the AZ office 3 times a year. Work with the President to generate PTSA Budget, monthly status reports of cash in and out, inform the committees of budgeted funds, ensure adherence to approved PTSA budget. Prepare and present budget report for each PTSA meeting. Work with the President to find an independent person to audit the books in July of every year. It only needs to be an informal audit, no more than 1-2 pages, checking 5-10 items. (i.e.: checks are signed by two people, the check is written to the company on the bill, deposits identified correctly. Would be responsible to send any 501 c 3 donations a receipt on our letterhead. Secretary Time Commitment: Busiest Times of the Year: 2-4 hours per month Following each PTSA and committee meetings Take minutes at PTSA meetings. Make sure every meeting is following the agenda, move meeting along if getting off track. After the meeting forward to the President for review, and then submit to the next meeting for approval. After approval the minutes will be placed in the secretary s folder and sent to the PHS PTSA website to post. Send thank you notes to any donations received. 5 revised 8/5/14
Fundraising Chairperson Time Commitment: Busiest Times of the Year: 2 hours per week: much more during peak times Around our fundraisers events Recruit and support committee chairs for key fundraising events. Continue to monitor success of fundraisers and to recommend changes to fund raising objectives and strategies at PHS PTSA. Introduce to the board possible fundraising opportunities. Hospitality Chairperson Time Commitment: Busiest Times of the Year: 5-6 hours per event On-going Recruit committee of helpers and focus on making all parents feel welcome at PHS. Hosting several events during the school year including a back-to-school reception for the teachers/staff before school starts, then monthly luncheons, special events like Valentine s Day, dessert day, end of year events including baccalaureate, meet the teacher night, coffees, (occasional going away or retirement parties) health assessment, and PTSA meetings. Calling and working with the assistant hospitality person to send out reminder messages to parents bringing in food. Arrange for food to be donated to the luncheons. Assistant Hospitality Person Time Commitment: 2 hours per month depending on event Busiest Times of the Year: On-going To help with communication and or the events depending on the assistants time availability (most times the board will assist but usually there are willing helpers). This job can be done from home. Membership and Parent Out-Reach Chairperson Time Commitment: 4-12 hours per week Busiest Times of the Year: Several weeks surrounding events Serve as a year-round clearinghouse to fill PTSA volunteer needs. For each membership drive, develop letter for PHS PTSA, work with President on the membership form (including dates of events, dates of meetings, names of board, and noting the PTSA opportunities). Collecting donations and memberships from the PTSA mail box, recording membership names for printing at a later date in the PHS bulletin. Collect, count, and give money to treasurer for deposit. Develop notices to list and thank all paid members. 6 revised 8/5/14
Coordinate volunteer recruitment for Freshman Badger Day, and Orientation for the new parents of sophomore, junior and seniors, meet the teacher night, and work with board and volunteers to get more members. Maintain sign-up sheets for parents for school year events. Maintain a database of members, volunteers, and provide to those board members and chairs as needed. Help with any PHS sponsored parent education events. Communications Chairperson Time Commitment: Unavailable Busiest Time of the Year: Surrounding newsworthy events Fundraising Primary role is to publicize school PTSA events. At the beginning of the year, school website will need to be updated with the new board information. Update Facebook when needed. Send updates or shout outs to the school secretary to be posted in PowerSchool announcements. Send the approved Minutes to Janice.snyder@prescottschools.com at the District PUSD office. Update PHS PTSA web site by making sure all of the information is up to date. (including but not limited to, meeting times, and upcoming events. Remind the school secretary to change the reader board in front of the baseball field if a PTSA event is coming up. This job can be done from home. Dippin Dots: Currently working with Chad Cook (owner of Freedom Station in Prescott Valley) to give the PTSA 20% back from 5 home Varsity football games by selling Dippin Dots. Fry s Community Rewards: Coordinate outreach to PHS families, friends, and community members educating and encouraging them to sign up for Fry s Community Rewards to benefit PHS PTSA. Update PHS PTSA school s account by reviewing Fry s accounting and reporting findings to the board at each board meeting. The Fry s Community Rewards program must be renewed each year 8/1. Starting 9/1 the funds are calculated quarterly by Fry s Food and the PHS PTSA is sent a check. www.frysfood.com/topic/new-community-rewards-program and either sign up or renew. This job can be done from home. 7 revised 8/5/14
escrip: Coordinate outreach to PHS families, friends and community encouraging them to sign up for cash back to PHS PTSA through a variety of community sources and escrip. Handle renewals which occur 8/1 each year. Collect and analyze usage report. Be creative about signing up new families. www.escrip.com either sign up or renew. This job can be done from home. Labels for Educations: This program goes on all year long. It needs a person who will collect the labels dropped off in the red box in the PHS Office or the PTSA mail box at school and mailing in the filled in collection sheets. Maintaining our wish list on the web site. The products the labels are on include Campbell soup, BIC, Prego, Post Products, Pace, V8, Spagettio s, and Swanson. Consider working with retirement homes to see if we could put in a box in some of the homes in town. www.labelsforeducation.com. This job can be done from home. 8 revised 8/5/14
Frequently Asked Questions about Volunteering Budget How much money may I spend? Almost all PTSA Board Members or Chairs have a budgeted amount of PTSA funds, and an updated budget is generated by the treasurer before every meeting for each volunteer to look over. If you plan to spend more money than is allocated then you would have to get an approval by the board. You would need to get prior clearance from the Treasurer or President. Reimbursement In order to be reimbursed for expenses from your budgeted committee expenses, the reimbursement process is as follows: If your purchase has not yet been made, fill out a check request form from the Treasurer, return to the Treasurer then the Treasurer will send a check to the vendor for you. If your purchase has already been made, fill out the reimbursement form and put in the PTSA mailbox. A check will be made and mailed or handed to you as soon as possible. Many PHS volunteers very generously donate from their pocketbooks as well as their time. If you want to, please read the section about donations below. Donations Many PTSA volunteers pay for things related to their roles out of their own pockets. If you give the treasurer a receipt or some description of these expenses, a letter may be generated for your tax donation. It is also important that you document how much you spent of your own money and place it in the materials or folder you hand over to your successor so PTSA knows the real cost of events and programs and the following year s budget may be adjusted accordingly. In kind donations are important part of completed books. Seeking Donations The current policy stands now that we can solicit and acknowledge donations from families/ and businesses directly related to our school (e.g. A mom works at a construction company, a Grandfather owns a local restaurant, etc.) It would be best to check with the President the Fundraising Chair before you solicit these donations to be sure that the potential donors have not already been asked to contribute for another event. Since the PHS PTSA is a 501 c 3 we are a non-profit and can give receipts to donors. How do I get an announcement in to the PHS PTSA Powerschool announcements, newsletter, web site or Facebook? Please contact the President or the Communications Chair. How do I get a flier to the student body or faculty? Please contact the President or the Communications Chair. 9 revised 8/5/14
Are there any rules about what can go in to the PHS announcements or fliers? Not really but be sure to go over with President or VP and if necessary the Principal. If we need something to go on campus that is not a PTSA issue we have to go through the PUSD district office see andi.mayer@prescottschools.com. How do I make copies? No restriction, the PTSA gives the school a case of paper every year. Always ask the office staff if it s okay to make copies. Do I need to track volunteer hours and do I need a badge? All board members (will receive a volunteer badge, the list will be created by the President and delivered to the Principal s secretary then forwarded to the bookstore). Volunteers must sign in at the front desk also they need to sign the black book (volunteer hours) and wear a name badge any time they are on campus. The PUSD district office is keeping track of all volunteer time, plus all volunteers may want to keep track of their hours for tax purposes. How do I recruit more volunteers for committees or special projects? There are several ways to get the help you need. Here are some ideas: Contact the President or VP Staff a table at the meet the teacher night or at Badger Day Announce your needs at a PTSA meeting Write an announcement for the PHS PTSA announcements Just ask! Many people don t volunteer because they don t know that their help is needed. A direct person-to-person request is the most effective recruitment tool. Ask a department head at school. Ask an advisor of a club. How do I get helpers from the PHS Student Council or other Clubs? Students at PHS are an excellent volunteer source. They are amazing workers when assigned to appropriate tasks and are happy to get community service credit hours by helping with projects at PHS. You can request student helpers for events by contacting the President or VP and they will touch base with the club advisor. It is important to these students that you submit a list of names and hours for credit to the advisor. Contact the PUSD Volunteer group at the district office. 10 revised 8/5/14