What to do if your elected officers resign?

Question: 

Two of our four officers have submitted their resignations  unexpectedly, each for perfectly understandable personal reasons.  How do we go about replacing them?

Answer:  

First, thanks for hanging in there during a difficult period.  Now to answer your question, under Article 6, Section 5(e) of the Uniform Bylaws, vacancies in an office can be filled by appointment by the executive committee, and the person appointed can serve until the next general membership meeting, at which time nominations should be taken from the floor and an election held.

Differences in Money Matters: WSPTA and National PTA

Question: 

We received our Official Back to School Kit from National PTA and I noticed a significant difference between the National version of Money Matters and the one that is included in the Washington State PTA Leadership Kit.  The issue has to do with accounting for that portion of membership service fees that are collected from members and then sent on as council, state or national portion of the fees.  The National PTA book says that those fees should never be included in the PTA’s income, but the Washington State Money Matters says just the opposite, i.e. that the council, state and national fees should be included as income in the PTA’s accounting system.  I don’t understand why Washington state would be different from what National PTA is telling us.

Answer:  

The reason Washington State is different is that local units are required by state law to include membership service fees in their income for purposes of the state Charitable Solicitations Act, RCW 19.09.  The folks at National PTA are not, of course, aware of the various laws applicable in the 50 states, and their advice appears to be based on federal tax laws.  It’s true that the portion of fees sent on to council, state or national are not included in computing income when your PTA completes its 990N, 990EZ or 990 form next month.  However Washington PTAs must include all fees received from members in determining whether they have to file under the state Charitable Solicitation Act, and that’s why Washington State PTA advises that all fees – including the portion that is sent on to council, state or National PTA -- be recorded as income on the PTA’s books.

Guidelines for General Membership Meetings

Question: 

We're trying to establish our general membership meeting schedule for the year--are there any rules or guidelines we should be following?

Answer: 

Meetings are governed by Article 5, Section 10 of the Uniform Bylaws, available online here, and by your local unit’s standing rules, so start there.  Some local units adopt a meeting schedule in the spring for the following year, whereas others don’t do so until the fall, but whenever the regular meeting schedule is established, notice should be sent to all members.  Even if the meeting schedule is already set, however, a special meeting of the general membership can be called by the President, a majority of the Board or by 5% of the membership.  Of course you’ll also want to take into account factors such as availability of a meeting location, a time that is convenient to members (including the teacher-members), and the nature of the business to be transacted at the meeting.