How to Fill an Officer Vacancy Georgia PTA presents… How to Fill an Officer Vacancy

What is a PTA officer vacancy? An officer vacancy occurs with a resignation, removal from office or death of an elected officer.

Who elects individuals to fill a vacated PTA officer position? The local unit PTA/PTSA Board of Directors (BOD) has the duty to fill PTA officer vacancies at a regularly scheduled Board of Directors meeting or at a Special (called) meeting of the Board of Directors. Note: A Special BOD Meeting requires that you ONLY address the reason for which the meeting was called and address no other business.

When should an election to fill an officer vacancy occur? It is important that an officer vacancy be filled as soon as reasonable so that the PTA/PTSA can move forward in handling its business and managing the organization. The timeframe varies, but it is reasonable that it may take a few weeks. If the filling of the officer vacancy is to occur at a special (called) meeting of the Board of Directors, per the bylaws that meeting requires a notification to all members of the Board of Directors, in writing, 3 days prior to the special meeting. Note: A quorum must be present to conduct the meeting.

Who is qualified and eligible? The same qualifications and eligibility criteria apply to this process as to the annual election of officers. Only members of your local unit PTA are eligible. Note: Individuals authorized to sign checks shall not be related to each other by marriage or any other relationship. (i.e., president, treasurer or secretary)

Bylaws References Vacancy in Office - Article VI #Section 7. A vacancy occurring in any office shall be filled for the unexpired term by a person elected by a majority vote of the Board of Directors, notice of such election having been given to the Board of Directors. In case a vacancy occurs in the office of president, the first vice-president shall serve notice of the election. Special Meetings of Board of Directors - Article X, Section 7 Special meetings of the board may be called by the president or when requested by a majority of the board members upon three (3) days’ written notice to each member of the board. Qualifications & Eligibility to be an Officer of PTA/PTSA - Article VI, Section 5 The following provisions shall govern the qualifications and eligibility of individuals to be officers of this PTA/PTSA: Each officer shall be a member of this local PTA/PTSA; No officer may be eligible to serve more than two consecutive terms in the same office. c. A person who has served in an office for more than one half of a full term shall be deemed to have served a full term in such office; and d. No member shall serve as a council president while serving as a local unit president. Signature Authorization Restriction as to Eligibility - Article VII, Section 4.d., Have checks or vouchers signed by two people: the treasurer and one other person. Individuals authorized to sign 225 checks shall not be related to each other by marriage or any other relationship;

The Process – The Election Board of directors meeting must be the venue for the process. Specific meeting notification is required per the bylaws. VP conducts the meeting when the president has resigned. Secretary is to take the Minutes. Pass an Attendance Sheet to be signed by all board members in attendance – officers, principal, parliamentarian, standing committee chairs. [Per the bylaws, proxy voting is prohibited.]

The Process – The Election A quorum must be present. Secretary must confirm that a Quorum is met and state such for the minutes. [Quorum for BOD meeting is a majority per the bylaws. Therefore, one-half of the total number of persons on the board of directors (not number of committees) plus 1 person equals the quorum. Note: The parliamentarian counts in the quorum number requirement, but DOES NOT VOTE unless by ballot vote. And the presiding officer only votes to break a tie. If a quorum is present, proceed. Otherwise, the meeting must be adjourned and subsequently another special meeting called. The 3-day notice process begins again, etc. With a quorum present, proceed to formally accept the Resignation of the departing officer, stating this for the minutes. Parliamentary procedure (per Roberts Rules of Order, per the bylaws) will govern the election.

A Contested Election The Secretary should have ballots available at every meeting, just in case of a contested election. Train at least four individuals to be tellers in the event of a contested election. Nominees for office should never serve as tellers The presiding officer appoints a tellers’ committee (a chair, plus at least three additional tellers). Any nominee for office should not serve as teller. The presiding officer counts the members eligible to vote in the election, e.g., “rise and count off”. The tellers 1) distribute ballot slips to members, 2) collect ballots, 3) count them and 4) provide a report signed by all tellers to the presiding officer. (We recommend having four tellers. Two read each ballot, one silently and one aloud; the other two record the votes, as they are read, on separate tally sheets.) Please refer to the Georgia PTA Nominating Committee and Elections Guide, Roberts Rules of Order and www.pta.org for more detailed information.

A Contested Election • Tellers must report all votes cast, including illegal ballots, to determine the number of ballots cast to compute a majority. Illegal ballots are: 1. Two ballots folded together 2. A ballot including the names of too many candidates 3. An unintelligible ballot. If the meaning is doubtful, but the ballot would not affect the results of the election, the ballot should be ignored. If the ballot would affect the outcome, it is shown to the chair, who should ask the assembly for a ruling. • Tellers should seal all ballots and tally sheets in an envelope and give them to the secretary, who preserves them until it is reasonable to believe there will be no call for a recount, or the President instructs that the ballots be destroyed. • The reporting teller does not declare who was elected. The presiding officer reads the report and announces who was elected. This includes the count or totals of votes: number voting, valid and invalid votes, for each candidate. • The Secretary enters the teller’s report into the minutes, and it becomes a part of the official record of the organization. Under no circumstances should the count or totals in an election be omitted from the minutes. Please refer to the Georgia PTA Nominating Committee and Elections Guide, Roberts Rules of Order and www.pta.org for more detailed information.

Script for Contested Election After nominations are closed for all offices by the presiding officer, proceed as follows: Presiding Officer: “The chair appoints A, B, C, and D as tellers. Will teller ___ please serve as chair? The voting members will rise and count off. You will take your seat immediately after saying your number. Beginning with the member on my extreme left in the front row, please say one (1) and then be seated.” Presiding Officer: “There are ___ voting members present. Will the tellers please come forward and distribute the ballots?” (Tellers should serve the presiding officer first, and if applicable, others at the head table.) Presiding Officer: “The names of the candidates for the position of ______ are ______ and ______. Using the ballot provided, write your choice for election, then fold your ballot once.” Presiding Officer: Allow two or three minutes for voting then announce, “Have all voted who wish to vote? Will the tellers please collect the ballots? The tellers now will count the votes.” The tellers often leave the room. Presiding officer proceeds with other business until tellers are ready to report. Presiding Officer: Upon return of the tellers, “Are the tellers ready to report?” Chair of Tellers: “The tellers’ committee reports: Number of votes cast ______ Number of illegal votes cast ______ Number of votes necessary for election ______ Candidate A received ________ votes. Candidate B received ________ votes.” Presiding Officer: “Pam Advocate, having received a majority of the votes cast, is elected president.” Please refer to the Georgia PTA Nominating Committee and Elections Guide, Roberts Rules of Order and www.pta.org for more detailed information.

After the Election File with the minutes the resignation letter or a copy of the resignation e-mail] from the resigning officer. [secretary] File the attendance sheet with the minutes. [secretary] File the associated special BOD meeting notification with the minutes. [secretary] Document your action with state and council levels of PTA by completing the officer change form. [See Georgia PTA website OR the Georgia PTA Leadership Resource manual.]. Send Council’s copy to the council president. [secretary] At the next general meeting, announce the resignation and the subsequent action taken by your Board of Directors per the Bylaws to fill the vacated position. Remember to thank the departing, and introduce and recognize the newly elected. Through your next PTA newsletter - do same as # 5.

After the Election 7. Ensure that all records, files, and training materials are transferred to the newly elected officer as soon as possible, setting a deadline for turning over those documents. NOTE: In the case of the secretary, president or treasurer a new signature card should be filed. For changes in treasurer, an audit is required BEFORE the incoming officer takes possession of the PTA’s accounts and records. [Resignation of a treasurer requires an audit per the bylaws. Since every PTA's circumstance is unique to that PTA, contact council/district to make sure your PTA takes all appropriate actions to protect itself - both those leaving office and those entering office.] 8. All actions in regards to filling the vacancy must be reflected in the minutes of the (special) board of directors meeting and general meeting, independently of one another. 9. If a departing officer was serving as a council delegate for your PTA, then the executive committee assigns another person to replace that delegate and notifies council PTA of the change. The council handbook / voting card is also transferred to the newly chosen delegate. Inform the new delegate of the council meeting dates so they may plan to attend representing your PTA.

After the Election 10. Encourage and inform the incoming officer to attend training, such as a PTA University workshop or any others that may be offered by state, district or council levels of PTA throughout the year. Arrangements may be made with your council/district to provide a mini-training session, which can be scheduled directly with a council president or district director.

“Common” Mistakes Forgetting to inform potential candidate of the office’s duties/responsibilities per local unit bylaws. Forgetting to inform the potential candidate of meetings expected to attend representing the local unit. Forgetting to inform the potential candidate of assigned duties as adopted in the local unit. Failure to inform potential candidate that bylaws and PTA positions and objectives, it’s Mission and Purposes, govern decisions, programs and management of the organization.