To be eligible to participate in PTA programs, grants, and awards at the state and national level, PTAs must fulfill the requirements set out in the WSPTA Standards of Affiliation (SOA.) Councils can support local PTAs with these requirements and ensure that everyone is able to take advantage of all the opportunities available from WSPTA and National PTA, including grant opportunities, Reflections, WSPTA programs, local PTA and council awards of excellence, and much more. Here are three things councils can do to help keep local PTAs in good standing:
- Communicate about SOA requirements, especially around upcoming deadlines, such as IRS filing. Don’t forget about the new October 31 deadline to have 25 members entered into memberplanet!
- Offer a contest or drawing related to the completion of SOA tasks. Provide a PTA prize, such as a free convention registration.
- Use the SOA to identify “red flags” that indicate a local PTA needs additional support. This may include not having officers, not having members, not electing a nominating committee, not making required filings, and many others. The SOA can be a great tool to help councils conduct “health checks” with local PTAs.
Please remember that councils are not the enforcing body for the SOA, and may not require that the checklist or proof of completion are turned in (though councils may ask to review a SOA with a local PTA, the local PTA is not obligated to do so.) If it becomes clear that a local PTA is struggling, contact the region director for next steps. WSPTA may call for a formal SOA review, and may put in place an ongoing plan of support to bring a PTA back into good standing. Whenever possible, WSPTA will partner with councils to do to this important work.
For details, refer to WSPTA Uniform Bylaws, Article 5, Section 2 A, and WSPTA Policy Section 3.1, and the Standards of Affiliation documents on the WSPTA website.