If I can just say one thing~please, please, please don't be duped into believing you have to pay $2,000 for an attorney to file the 501c3 and write the bylaws. We did this all on our own by gathering bylaws from several groups and customizing them to fit our needs. The membership then voted to adopt them. It cost $500 to file our 501c3 with the IRS and the process from filling out the application to receiving the determination letter took about 5 months. Check the PTO Today store for the "PTO Start-Up Tool Kit." Even if you only buy this guide to help with the 501c3 application it is sooooooooo worth the $39!

I would also be interested to hear what others have to say on this. Currently our group operates under the umbrella of the school. It was started this way when the school first opened, way before me. They have to approve everything we do; flyers, activities, checks, how funds are spent, etc. In September I decided to get serious about trying to raise funds for a playground. The previous group had been working on this for 4 years and only had $2000. We managed to raise $9000 from our first ever dinner & auction and spring carnival (can I get a whoo-hoo). I tried to get the school to assist me in obtaining grants, however everyone was too busy and now most of the deadlines have passed and we are still $2000 short. So now we left scrambling to find the rest of this money. Oh did I mention they said we would have to complete this project by mid-June so we don't conflict with their construction projects. However when I approched the school about us becoming seperate so I can apply for grants on our own and have a seperate bank account. They said we would have to pay their attorney $2000 to write the by-laws and file for our 501 C 3. Then they said "you guys are really just a fundraising group". I almost fell out of my chair. I thought we existed to enhance and support the school. I feel like onthegoPTO stated "The school provides the cake, the PTO provides the icing." Upon researching through this forum and talking to the experts at the PTO Today convention, I have found it is is not neccessary to go through the school. Now I really want to keep a good relationship with the school and I don't want any hard feelings. I just don't know how to go about do it in a diplomatic way. If anyone has any wisdom to share please do. I want to proceed carefully.

The only reason that we are talking about doing it outside the school is that they state in order for us to exist in the school we have to let them write our by-laws, approve everything we do and close our bank account and manage all expenses. They created their bylaws 3 years after ours to state that they have complete and utter control of any "authorized support organization" which includes the PTO. So, in order for us to maintain our independence we must work exclusively separate of the school as a separate charity or special interest group- like Kaboom, Girl Scouts, the Red Cross, etc

One of the difficulties I see with forming an outside group is you'll miss the opportunity to reach all of the parents - i.e., postings on bulletin board, weekly newsletter columns, flyers in the backpacks, booth at open house.

Our PTO has done a lot for the school in the past year but we've also caused some controversy in the process. One of the most important things we did is get our 501c3 status. I recommend everyone pursuing this SHOULD purchase the PTO Today manual that leads you step-by-step through this!! We also purchased our own insurance policy. The membership voted to update the bylaws (I'd be happy to share ours with anyone interested) to exclude the principal from serving as a voting member on the executive board.

We were having major issues with parents feeling that their hard work was being squashed by the constant veto of the principal. This HAD to change if we were going to survive. We have a mission statement but our underlying motto now is "The school provides the cake, the PTO provides the icing." When we felt the school administration only wanted us around if we did things "their way", we fought back - with diplomacy of course. We are no different than any other non-profit group in the community that works with the school. The Friends of the Library got permission to hold their annual craft fair on a Saturday in the school gym and to advertise the event in the school newsletter and on the bulletin board. Therefore, without question, the PTO gets to use the gym on a Saturday for the annual Flea Market or 6th grade spring social AND advertise in the newsletter and on the bulletin board. To not would be a form of discrimination and nobody likes the D word.

I have to tell you a great thing happened when we started to stand up, get organized and showcase the benefits we bring to the community and our school - our membership increased and we went from having 3-5 people at monthly meetings to at least 12 (usually more). We also have more teachers as members than ever before. We are a mighty little school - with the highest poverty per capita and only 108 K-6 students.

In just the past year we have been able to start a 3-day a week afterschool program, construct a 1-mile fitness/nature trail on the school property, and fund ALL school field trips. We shouted our successes from the rooftops by doing a mailing to ALL registered voters and parents in town and sending press releases to the local newspaper.

You asked for advice on forming an outside group but I thought I'd give you the other perspective. My advice should you choose to stand your ground and fight for the PTO? Remember the "P" in PTO! Without the "P" there would be no school. Through this process it stands for more than Parent - the words Powerfully Persistent Patient Perceptive Polite Participant also come to mind.

Well, the school is 4 years old. The PTO was started by the principal shortly after the school opened, elected officers, formed by-laws, opened a bank account, got it's own EIC number, etc. About a year ago the school board of our charter school finally created their own policy manual. Well, they created policy to take over the PTO. It states that they have to approve our by-laws, approve all activities on school property, etc. Well, they are also trying to say that it says we can not exist with our own bank account. Well, that's their interpretation. The only thing it has in their about bank accounts is that scholarships have to be put into a trust account and outside solicitation funds can not be put into any school account. Our problem is that they don't see it that way. They want us to be an auxillary to them and we want to be independant from them. So, they stated if we continue to refuse to change our oganization to comply with their (interpretation) of the board policy (that they created 4 years after we started) that they'd issue a cease and dissist? order and that there would be sanctions (what ever that means) They had mentioned something about being considered an outside "special interest group or charity" (such as the red cross, Kaboom, etc) but also stated that our name ex. School PTO insinuated that we are not a seperate group but in fact trying to say that we are an approved support group representing the school. We want to stay a seperate group - otherwise nothing will ever get accomplished (they want us to present EVERY IDEA AND EXPENDITURE to our principal who will request a check from an account that's not even located in our town, then that check goes before the school board at the monthly meeting, then they discuss it, then if they approve it THEY sign it and we can actual do it. This might work fine for large things that we may receive an invoice on but most of everything that we do are small expenditures at several local businesses. For instance, we voted to help our new spanish teacher get set up ( new to the school, new classroom, etc) Well, while we were out shopping for library checkout cards we found Spanish Posters at the Teacher store- so we bought them. They were only $8 and I just can not see waiting 1 -2 months to get permission to spend the money that we have raised on things that we have as a group voted to do for our school. All that we have done before is ask the principal if it's okay. Or a teacher may ask for help with costumes for the play at the last minute (1-2 days before!)- we just get ahold of our voting members, ask if it's okay and spend our money and make them for her. The school does not have the money and the teachers don't always have the time. Our parent volunteers don't have a lot of time either. I admit that things in our group tend to get done more "in the moment" We tend to decide what we want to do that month, vote, shop, advertise and execute. We probably only spend a couple hundred dollars in any given month on activities. We have larger projects that we are researching on but until we have all of our facts they haven't come to a vote. We only make $5000 - $10000 in any given year. We were in the process of filing to be incorporated in our state and filling for 501c3 but are now waiting to see if we need to change our name or ammend our bylaws first.

Sorry to ramble on so. I know somewhere on here I had seen that there were some groups that operate seperate from the school "friends of XXX School" and do their fundraising OFF school property and use their own by laws, bank account, etc and just donate what they would like to the school. I am wanting to get ahold of a least a couple of those groups to see how they are set up. From what I'm getting from our board is that if we don't want them to handle our money that we shouldn't be called a PTO because they state that would mean we are representing them as an approved support organization. We REALLY did not want to change our name but I guess we'll have to.:confused:

Can we have a little more info? Why would the board want to do away with the PTO? Are you registered as a 501c3 organization?