How to Re/Start Your PTA

Whether you're looking to start a PTA at your school, or you want to figure out how to get your existing PTA in good standing, this is the place to be!

First Things First - Are There Three of You?

Every PTA requires a minimum of three officers: President, Treasurer, and Secretary. You can definitely have more than three, but you must have at least three. If you're planning to start a new PTA, or attempting to get your existing PTA in good standing, you need to make sure you have at least three people willing to stand for election and serve as officers.

Start a New PTA

Once you have at least three people interested in starting a PTA, your next step is to submit VA PTA's application. Read the entire application! It contains detailed steps for your PTA journey.

These steps include:

Submit the application. Applications for Charter Membership or re-establishing a Local PTA Unit should be submitted via email to VA PTA.
Call a meeting. Ask your Principal to advertise a community-wide meeting to discuss joining PTA. A City/County Council PTA, or State Officer is available to attend your meeting to answer questions and provide support.
Take a vote. At your Charter Organizational meeting, you will vote to become a PTA under the uniform bylaws with the organizational structure and dues that supports your community. At this meeting your new members will also vote to elect Officers.
Get started. VA PTA will help you through the process of organizing legally as a 501c3 and set-up a free MemberHub account for your PTA so you can focus on planning activities and events to build a strong, thriving school community.

You can find more resources, including a video to use at your charter meeting, all the forms you need, and templates to help you run your PTA, on VA PTA's Start a PTA page.

In Good Standing

VA PTA provides a Standards of Affiliation checklist to help you make sure your PTA is in good standing. Just complete each of the tasks on that list. For more details about each item on the list, check out VA PTA's Standards of Affiliation page.

VA PTA also provides an Annual Compliance Docs page. Remember, most things required by VA PTA can be submitted electronically through MemberHub.

Re/Starting a PTA Presentation

HCC PTA held a Re/Start Your PTA informational meeting in October 2022. This presentation covers a lot of the same information presented on this page, just in a different format.