1. The establishment of PTAs and PTCAs in all primary and secondary schools under the Department of Education, Culture and Sports, shall at all times be encouraged, with the primacy of the interest and welfare of school children.
   
   
2. Membership in PTAs and PTCAs is strictly voluntary and should never be proprietary nor can be held indefinitely.
   
   
3. The nature of PTAs and PTCAs as private organizations should be respected. All schools under DECS, without the school officials abdicating their exclusive management of the schools, should promote the highest degree of relationship and cooperation between the school and the community. PTAs and PTCAs can offer to the schools, or the schools may seek the assistance of PTAs and PTCAs, advocacy of school programs and projects.

B
Organization of PTA and PTCA on School Level

1. Membership — Membership in PTA is limited to parents (or legal guardians) of students enrolled in the school and teachers therein; while membership in PTCA, being a larger organization, is open not only to parents and teachers but to interested people in the community, including local officials, the tenure of membership of these last two (2) groups should not exceed four (4) years.
   
   
2. Board of Directors — The powers of the PTA/PTCA shall be exercised by the Board of Directors composed of fifteen (15) members to be elected at large by the General Assembly.
   
   
3. Officers — The officers of the PTA/PTCA are the Chairman of the Board of Directors, (optional) President, Vice-President, Treasurer, Auditor, Business Manager and Secretary. The officers shall be elected by the Board of Directors from among its members.
   
   
4. Tenure of office — The members of the Board and the officers shall serve a term of two (2) years to coincide with the school year, and no PTA/PTCA officer shall serve more than two (2) consecutive terms. Incumbent members of the Board and officers at the time of the promulgation of this Order shall continue to hold office until the election of their successors.
   
   
5. Elections — The election of the members of the Board shall be held annually on Saturday or Sunday of the fourth week after the opening of classes. Immediately after their election, the Board of Directors shall formally organize by electing the officers from among themselves.
   
   
6. Vacancies — Any vacancy occurring in the Board of Directors other than removal by the General Assembly or by expiration of term, may be filled by the vote of at least a majority of the remaining directors, if still constituting a quorum; otherwise, the vacancy must be filled by the members of the PTA/PTCA at a regular or at a special meeting of the General Assembly called for the purpose. A director so elected to fill a vacancy shall be elected only for the unexpired term of his predecessor in office.
   
   
7. Choice of Organizing a PTA or a PTCA — The General Assembly composed of parents (or legal guardians) of students enrolled in the school and teachers therein shall determine, by a majority vote of the members present constituting a quorum, whether it should organize a PTA or a PTCA in the school and shall adopt a constitution or articles of association and by -laws consistent with these guidelines.
   
   
8. Amendments of the constitutions or articles of association and by-laws — PTA/PTCA with constitution or articles of association and by-laws inconsistent with these guidelines have up to the end of the School Year 1998-1999 in which to amend their constitution or articles of association and by-laws to conform with these guidelines.
   
   
9. Recognition of PTA/PTCA — Only PTA/PTCA organized consistent with these guidelines shall be recognized by the school principal. Only one (1) parents teachers association, either a PTA or a PTCA, shall be recognized by the school principal.
   
   
10. Effect or recognition — Only PTA/PTCA recognized by the school principal shall be authorized by the school to collect membership and annual dues and other authorized voluntary contributions from students and/or their parents.
    
    
11. Limitation on the membership of public school teachers — Public school teachers are prohibited from membership in PTA/PTCA not recognized by the school principal. Public school teachers and officials who are members of the PTA/PTCA are prohibited from holding key positions in said association(s) except as a member of the Board or secretary thereof except when he/she is a parent of a student enrolled in the school, in which case, he/she may hold any position in said association(s).

C
Financial Matters

1. Membership and annual dues — The amount of membership and annual dues should be reduced to an affordable level and approved by the General Membership Assembly during its annual meeting. Teachers shall be exempted from these dues unless classified as parents.
   
   
2. Voluntary contributions — All projects of the PTA/PTCA shall be funded out of voluntary contributions from their members and such projects shall be undertaken only upon prior consultation with the school principal and duly approved by the Board.
   
   
3. Collection of the dues and voluntary contributions — The collection of the dues and contributions shall be on a voluntary basis, shall not be required for admission or transfer purposes of the pupils/students.
   
   
4. Trust Funds — All collections of dues and voluntary contributions shall be treated as trust funds and deposited in a reputable banking institution. The association's Treasurer or his/her authorized representative shall undertake the collections and issuance of its official receipts. All disbursements out of said collections shall be in accordance with generally accepted accounting and auditing rules and regulations.
   
   
5. Financial statement report — An annual financial statement report shall be prepared by the PTA/PTCA, signed jointly by its President, Treasurer and Auditor, and submitted to the General Assembly of members, a copy thereof to be furnished the school principal. Without such financial statement report, the school principal shall not authorize the collection for the incoming School Year.

D
Prohibited Activities and Sanction

1. Prohibited activities — PTA/PTCA are prohibited from:
   
   
   1. selling insurance, pre-need plans or similar schemes or programs to students and/or their parents;
      
      
   2. operating a canteen/school supplies store or be a concessionaire thereof either inside or outside school premises;
      
      
   3. engaging in partisan political activities; and
      
      
   4. interfering in the management and operation of the school.
   
   
2. Sanction — A PTA/PTCA which engages in any of the above prohibited activities and continue to engage in such prohibited activity one (1) week from notification given by the school principal of such violation shall be penalized with the cancellation of its recognition upon approval of the Schools Division Superintendent of recommendation of the school principal. The sanction shall only be lifted upon the resignation of the members of the Board and officers and the election of their successors.

E
All previous memoranda, orders, circulars, and/or guidelines inconsistent with this memorandum are deemed amended and superseded.

F
Effectivity — The foregoing guidelines shall take effect immediately.

Adopted: 23 Nov. 1998

(SGD.) ANDREW GONZALEZ, FSC
Secretary