I hate to be pessimistic here, but I think you should assume the worst and hope for the best. Be very persistent with this issue. Document everything you do. The first year I served on my PTO board we didn't get a treasurer's report for 11 months. I suspected something was awry the first month, but being the new member, I brought this up in meetings but didn't push the issue. At the end of the school year participation was dwindling and the treasurer and president were not to be found. I had gone to the bank to ask for the records, but only those listed on the account could see the records. Several of us on the board made repeated attempts to get the checkbook and records from the treasurer. After I was elected president, I immediately went to the bank and got the previous year's statements with check images. Within 20 minutes I found evidence that our former treasurer had embezzled nearly $20,000 from our account. A state police investigator finally turned over our records to me. Tough lesson learned!
Thanks for the advise. The current Treasurer and I are going to send a registerd letter this week.
I hadn't thought about going to their home but that might just do the trick. I was trying not to cause bad feelings, I think that just didin't keep good records. By the way I really like comig to this message board it is very informative.
The others are right - be persistent. Don't take "no" for an answer. Tell her you'll be happy to come by her house to pick up the records and what time you'll be there. Better yet, catch her at school and offer (firmly) to just follow her home right then.
But be prepared with "Plan B". We had this happen in another type of youth group (not PTO). The best we ever got was an envelope of loose money and a check almost a year old that had never been deposited.
In that case, you may have to go back to the bank, get past statements, and reconstuct as best you can. Luckily, many (most??) banks now keep electronic copies of checks on file.
We had a similar problem last year, although it didn't go on for as long as yours did. We had several months go by where we had no reports, deposits weren't being made timely, and checks weren't being written.
We tried doing exactly what Critter suggested--we gave her some notice and then showed up on her doorstep (two of us; no way only one should go)--not once, but twice. But she wasn't there either time.
Then we taped a letter to her front door that said that it was our property, not hers, and that if she didn't turn the stuff over in whatever state it was in, we were going to come to the house with the police. (We could have done registered mail, but figured she would never go to the post office to pick it up.) I have no idea whether it was legal or not, but it worked. She came over and dumped the books on the President's front porch that same night.
