The president is the chief executive officer of your PA/PTA. Since PA/PTAs are autonomous bodies, the precise duties of the president are defined by your PA/PTA’s bylaws. The DOE’s bylaws template includes suggested roles and responsibilities of a PA/PTA president, which many PA/PTAs adopt.
DOE’s PA/PTA Bylaws Template states that the president presides at all PA/PTA meetings and meets with executive board members to plan agendas for general membership meetings. According to the template, the president is an ex-officio member of all committees (except the nominating committee), appoints the chairpersons of all committees (with the approval of the executive board), delegates responsibilities to PA/PTA members, is one of the signatories on checks, and is responsible for encouraging parental involvement. The president is also a mandatory member of the SLT, and is responsible for disseminating information discussed at SLT meetings to the members of the PA/PTA. In Title 1 schools, the president facilitates the meeting to elect the Title I PAC (Parent Advisory Committee) Chairperson and Alternate Chairperson.
CR A-660 allows PA/PTAs to elect co-presidents. Dividing the workload between two co-presidents can be helpful, especially in a large school. In any school, having co-presidents can also provide continuity: many schools elect co-presidents for two consecutive terms each, staggering their first years so that there is always one incumbent in office. In the case of co-presidents, they must decide who will serve on the SLT and as the representative on the Presidents’ Council.