The school council secretary’s role is more than just taking minutes and posting the meeting agenda. At first glance, the role of school council secretary seems straightforward: You type up the meeting agendas and prepare minutes from each meeting. But school council secretaries are often assigned additional responsibilities that make the job more interesting, more creative, and more challenging. Here is everything you need to know and more about how to be an effective school council secretary.
Qualities:
- Desire to serve the students, the council, the school and the board
- Understanding the role of the school council
- Good listening skills
- Effective communication skills
- Strong organizational skills
- Basic computer skills (word processing)
Recording Secretary Responsibilities:
- Distribute meeting agendas
- Distribute draft minutes from previous meeting with agenda
- Record minutes for all executive and council meetings
- Maintain a complete file of all approved minutes, agendas and reports/materials distributed to members at meetings
- Attend executive and council meetings and participate in discussions and voting
Correspondence Secretary Responsibilities (may be a separate position or the elected secretary will be responsible for all tasks)
- Determine with the executive committee or the council the frequency and most effective method of communicating with members and the parent community
- Manage communications and related materials for the council including, but not limited to:
- Correspondence
- Newsletters
- Emails
- Website articles or updates
- Social media posting
- Bulletin board postings
Typical Tasks:
- Set up a filing system at the school and on your computer
- Use email to send out meeting reminders, agendas, flyers for upcoming events and to distribute newsletter, if parents have given the council permission to email them directly.
- Prepare notes of thanks, sympathy, inquiries etc. as need on behalf of the council and executive committee
- Take concise and accurate meeting notes on all relevant decisions made by the council or executive committee
- Prepare and distribute minutes to the council for approval.
- Post minutes on school website
The school council secretary’s role is one of the most important for keeping the business of the school council running well, and for communicating all of the group’s important work to its members. Hopefully this article helps point you in the right direction. If you are still searching for more information and can’t find it in one of our blogs/articles be sure to reach out to other parent council members via our parent engagement forum.
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