I agree with all the comments offered so far.

Shelley07, do you have children in the school that is staying or the school that is going? You may say, "why do you ask"?

It seems to me that a strong message from those that are staying would hold more political capital/weight than from one that is going.

Being in the giving end, someone (at first glance) has nothing to gain by giving it away.

Has you ever considered having joint activities at alternating locations, funded by the established orgainzation, at first?

Thanks everyone for your input. Your ideas will make our presentation a little bit easier.

I definitely think it is a show of good will and also a professional approach to give an donation to the new PTO. Some of those children helped support the fundraisers...and you as a group will make yourselves proud by supporting their separation with a donation..d

Our bylaws address this exact situation, and it came into play about 10 years ago, and will again in the next 2 or 3.
Here's what our bylaws basically say. Depending on the percentage of the students leaving our school, we'll give that much of our bank account over to the new school, so they will have a solid base. Should 30% of the students leave our school, then the new school will receive 30% of our funds.
Here's how I see it. The kids and their families raised that money to support their children's school. If their child switches schools (and not by choice, but for re-zoning for instance) shouldn't their hard-earned money follow?
It's a kind gesture, too. It lets the new school's PTO hit the ground running.
Yes, it may take a big bite out of your budget, but that money was raised by the school, and not by a sole entity. You may, as a group, come up with a flat amount to give them, or do the percentage thing.
Whichever way you guys are leaning toward, I'd make sure you amend your bylaws to include this situation.

Thanks for your response!

I guess what I'm asking is, should the current PTO give money to help start out the new school's PTO? Until today, I didn't know if there was a precedence for that. We have a group of dedicated parents in our PTO. Some feel that we should not give any money to the new PTO. Others that have worked very hard this year feel that we SHOULD share some of the money as the new school will house half of the students (therefore half of the active PTO parents.) I'm trying to get advice on how to handle a delicate situation. I'm open to opinions and ideas.

Is your question whether the bank account should be split or whether you should support the other school as well until their PTO is up and running?

Since it will take time for a PTO to be formed, bylaws drafted, EIN established, bank accounts I'm not sure if they want your school to support them until they are ready or if they just want half the money and then will do their own thing.