Doesn't she need to "dissolve" the PTA first? Do something with the money in the accounts, etc. I don't think its as easy as saying, "Last year we were PTA, now we're PTO". After dissolving PTA, then do proper paperwork to start PTO........
The have-tos in my opinion are incorporating and taking care of your taxes. By incorporating you'll get a federal id# for things like bank accounts and stuff and there are some legal benefits too. Then the nice-to-haves would be the nonprofit status. But you don't have to do that.
Last year was our first year to go from PTA to PTO. We didn't do too much different but this year I'm going to be the PTO Pres. I'm redoing our bylaws to change everything from PTA to PTO and hopefully we'll decrease the page size volume! Our biggest change was to see how much money we were able to keep and spend on the school. PTA is great for getting started but then after several years you realize you are giving them a lot of your dues money. We now get to keep our dues money and it really shows! Good Luck!
Our district went from PTA to PTO about 3 years ago. Most of the so called "legal" stuff isn't necessarily "law" BUT with that said, any organization worth it's weight is better off to have a basic structure to it. Bylaws give everyone guidelines and are great to fall back on in times of upheaval. Robert's Rules is the basic foundation of all bylaws. There are links on this site with various styles....most are welcoming to copy. The main guidelines we used was to KISS.... keep it simple stupid.....we basically followed the PTA bylaws, just eliminated most of the weightly large organization jargon and brought a 15 page document down to about 6 pages. You can always amend the bylaws annually as things grow or change. As a district we did go through the process and get "official" tax exempt status. Again, this isn't necessary, but while we were doing it we just got it done. The biggest thing you want to do is get a core group of "follow-through" people involved and delegate and grow your organization for the good of the school!! Good Luck!
our pta decided to become a pto this year and i am 1st year prez. i do not
know what legal things we must take care of so that we wont be in
"trouble" with state, local, federal authorities. i have seen lots of stuff on
bylaws, tax exempt stuff, etc, but i need someone to talk to me like i am a
2 yr old, all that legal stuff makes me dizzy!! help!! thanks, angela
