I too have been in this PTO thing for awhile now and feel comfortable with our money being held by the school. Now, please hear me out. We have yet have moneys stole, mismanaged, or taken from us. We are all (school, PTO, accounting) that this is money the PTO raises and money we are to spend. Plaese remember there is also an accountablitiy factor that works into this. The school is accountable to the PTO membership.

Yes, it's a pain in the to get money and we recently were able to get a credit card for purchases that the school pays with our account.

You have alot to think about as we do everytime a new member joins and asks all the questions you have.

Pros...we don't worry about a checkbook being handled
...deposits are made to the school's Accts Recievable person. No one has to go to the bank.
...we have a ledger AND the statement we get from the school
...we have a paid employee of the school handling the account, so if we do everything we need to do and there is still a mistake, it's on the employee.
...our books are audited with the school's - free!

Cons....
...an easy three week wait to be reinbursed
...the paperwork

Just hear what they have to say and maybe this could be the time to find a way to work out conserns and issues to were a "contract" or agreement can be penned. Keep an opened mind.

As a long-time "PTOer" and one who has assisted several PTOs in the quest to setup an independent, secure organization, my response may seem odd...

If I trusted the administration, the model you have described would actually be my preferred choice. Over the years, I'm afraid I've grown pretty cynical. Consistently (albeit not always with enough volunteers) parents want to help their school. But they really don't want to run a business, which is what the PTO is. The group's structure, commitment, and even competency can vary dramatically from one year to the next.

Yes, you run the danger that the school/district could take final control of the money. But so do band boosters and every other club/organization under the school umbrella. But think about being relieved of the treasurer, tax, insurance, and other such responsibilities and being able to focus on programs!

I'd want to hammer out a clear agreement (in writing) over what the expectations are and who does what. But otherwise, I'd embrace this model whole-heartedly.

As those of us who attended Jim Carpenter's Treasurer's presentation at the Chicago conference learned: whoever has CARE, CUSTODY, CONTROL of the money, owns the money. So, it would seem that if your PTO is run as a committee of the school, the parents have given up the ownership of the money as well as decision-making control, even if the parents are the ones doing all the fundraising/volunteer work. Despite the promises made, the school administration and maybe even the school board will have the ultimate say in what your group does with its time and money.

This model works well for some parent groups, but it is very different from being an INDEPENDENT parent group. The primary benefit to being a school committee is probably that some of your administrative functions (ex: financial duties) will be handled by experienced paid staff. However, there are tons of volunteer-run PTOs out here that operate very successfully with "inexperienced" volunteers.

Weigh your options carefully. There are pros/cons to both models and you should not let the administration obscure or overlook the benefits of the INDEPENDENT model. In the end, your parents need to be supportive of the direction your group takes, so you can be assured you'll have the manpower needed to do your good work.

I am facing the same issue. We are changing from a PTA to a PTO and I had gotten all the forms for a new Fed. I. D. number and forms to apply for our tax exempt status, etc. Then at our last PTA meeting school presented us with the opinion it was better to go the route of using their i.d. and tax exempt status as at your school. The PTA members as a whole are for this ( I think because maybe they think it will be a lot of hassle to get our own separate tax identity. I am a little unsure myself if it is a good or bad thing. We DO have a very good working relationship with school administration, principal, etc. So I am hoping this will be ok. I also learned that now as a PTO we will have to make our purchases through school approved vendors, which might be more costly than before. Don't know if that is the same where you are. But we are committed to doing this. I will be President next year so even though I was a PTA President before, it will be a learning experience for me. Hope it goes well for you too.
Ellgy

I need some help please! I have prepared all the documentation to submit for Incorporation and Tax Exempt Status. Boy did that cause a big ruckus in the community. The school superintendent got involved, he brought the county lawyers into it to review the documentation, and now I get a message that they "strongly" recommend that we do not go that route. From all the articles and research I did prior to make this recommendation to the PTO Members, I was sold on this concept. Now I am faced with a huge delima. They say that we can work around all the issues I have brought up regarding, Officer Protection, Tax Exempt Status, Volunteer Write Offs, Donors Write Offs, etc..... They basically suggest that we go through the school for all of those issues. We deposit all money into an account managed by the school, and as we need money we get it from them. We can write off mileage and expenses because we volunteer for the school. All donations will use the schools 501(c)3 and all of our purchases will be tax exempt by riding on their status. They tell me that the liability issue is covered under the school's insurance policy and we as volunteers are covered for any liability issues. My gut does not like this solution and neither does the officers. But we are up against a wall. Small town politics, principals reputation, "change", etc..... We feel like we would do more harm than good to go ahead with our orignal plan of incorporating and applying for our own tax exempt staus.

Any suggestions? Help Please, I have a meeting coming up soon with the county lawyers, principal and who knows who else? Thanks.......