crewchief.....i have NO answer. i asked one teeny tiny question about finances to our pto, and BAM, they sent me a letter saying i was OFF the PTO after they met in a very small group without a quorum vote and decided they didnt want me to ask any more questions....guess they dont much appreciate questions about money from their own parents who contribute monies.
so your guess is as good as mine about why they carry over so much money...i have no clue.and no, no rules about carry over limits...and even if they had that in the bylaws, it wouldnt mean a thing as they dont follow their own rules, they are a lawless bunch. oh well. what can yu do. not go to meetings, thats for sure!

Hey, Serendipity and <volunteer> - You two need to get together!!!

Serendipity - One word - NO! Print that out and pin it to your shirt....

<volunteer> - What are you saving all of that money for? And don't your bylaws have carryover limits?

we are a 40% free/reduced lunch school, with PTO income about 70k per yr, and we are asked to pay five dollars for each child for each field trip. nothing comes from the PTO, any extra costs must be paid by school or district.those that dont pay stay at school for the day, and dont go on the trip. we have a two tiered population, the have a lots, and the have nots (the 40%). there is no in between. yet our PTO carries over 20k per yr, seems to me the money should be used for the kids and could help the ones that cant pay for the trips, but that doesnt happen.

Our BOE pays for nothing. We pay for the entire class trips. The 4 class trips cost us this year over $6,000. This basically translates into $15 for each student & chaperone to go on these trips. I really think this is one area that needs to be looked at first. Either they need to go on less expensive trips or the parents will have to start paying some of the trip fees.

Back to my first statemement...Our BOE pays for nothing...I think this is also part of the problem we face in having to supply all that we do. As the BOE does not pay for any extras at all.

The crazy thing too is that everyone thinks we have all this money because we take in so much money. However it is all used to pay for everything. We are constantly being asked for money for everything and then when I say we don't have it they look at me like I have 3 heads. I have now started handing out treasury reports so people can see these staggering amounts and see where all the money goes.

Last year we had to start off with a $3000 deficit because last years board could not keep up. This year we won't have a deficit, but we will be lucky if we start off with $300 left in the account. I had to cut out a few things just leave the account with some kind of money in it. So for the last few years nothing has been able to be purchased for the school at the end of the year simply because we have been bled dry.

CrewChief...you noted your expenses for the year. If I listed my list it would be at least 3x's longer then your list. Its like it just never ends. Someone has to put the breaks on this it is just out of control what is expected of us to provide.

serendipty...wow is all I can say when I read the amount of money that is being spent on field trips. Do you know out of the 75,000. how much of it is field trips? it seems like that is a huge part of your budget, what would happen if your group said no...we funded field trips one year and it was so much money that we decided that doing a family event was a better way to spend it. Yes that year was a hassle explaining BUT...Your school is actually smaller than ours and we have a 12,000 budget and do the following:
Fall Festival, Family Craft Night, Holiday Shop, Grandparent Luncheon, Just For fun night carnival, Family Beach Party Night, Staff Appreciation week, Read Across America week, Staff Parent volleyball with pizza party afterwards,Monthly guessing contests with 14 students winning each month, Game Day Refreshments school wide, mid year celebration refreshments school wide,open house refreshments and scavenger hunt prizes, positive behavior school store that takes no money (3000.00), and alot of little projects and ALL of these are free for our families. Your budget seems to have been growing wild, If alot of it was being spent on supplies, books, stuff that "shouldn't" be covered by a pto I would be a little more understanding with it. I can't blame you for being worried..What would happen if you actualy put a spending amount per grade level and then it is up to the teachers to figure out the rest. We have had grades do their own fundraising for field trips and they do good with it, a mathathon, things like that. Maybe you could suggest grades start doing things like that to help. Good luck!

[ 05-04-2006, 08:36 PM: Message edited by: pals ]

Serendipity - I want to go to your school!

We're facing similar issues due to rapid growth. Theorheticly, income should increase at the same % as costs and growth but it seems to be inversely proportionate at our school. Our slated president (for 06/07 school year) is concerened about the trend and took a proactive stance. She sent a survey to all teachers and parents to garner their input. She listed the average funds raised and the average spent on each service/activity. First, everyone was stunned to see how much was done with so little. Second, it sent the subtle message that unless fundraising participation grows, activities will be cut. Respondents were asked to rate, in order, their top 10 out of the 22 listed. As we guessed, it was difficult for them to pick only 10. It gave them a pretty stark view of what our kids would have to do without if we couldn't afford it.

We have an enrollment of 700+ and a staff of 60.

Fundraising usually averages $23,000 per year. Our costs are:
AR Prizes $250
Art Cabinet $600
Arts Day $3500
Character Counts $1500
Fieldtrips ($5/student) $3775
Lmainating Film $1500
Library Books $2000
Folders/Planners $2975
Newcomers Welcome $125
Open House $220
Registration $180
School Directory $380
Teacher Appreciation $1500
Teacher Reimbursements ($100ea) $5000
Teacher Aide Reimbursements ($50ea) $250

Each year we try to use surplus for one big purchase such as computer printers, swingsets, laminator, so it has a larger impact than trickling it away.....

Any extra funds are put in long term acccounts for playground, science, athletic equipment, classroom equipment, audio/visual, computers

Of course, we have minor operating expenses as well.

Your parent group does SO MUCH. Does the school board cover any of these projects expenses? For example, we pay $5/student for fieldtrips. The school board covers the ransportation expense. Any extra over the $5, lunches, snacks, etc. are covered by the parents.