A few years ago our group ran a portion of the funds through the school. We set an amount each year for the teachers to spend and then we wrote a check to the school for that amount. It saved us some paperwork because the teachers funneled all their receipts and purchase orders through the school instead of us. The problem was knowing what each teacher spent and what the money was spent on, and if there was money left at the end of the year. We got a treasurer who was willing to take on the additional work and we now do all the reimbursements ourselves. It gives us a better handle on where the money is going and we set a date by which the funds had to be used and added the rule that any money left after that date would go to back to the general fund and we then use it to buy items from the school wish list. The money is working instead of sitting in an account benefiting no one.
I agree with asking the secretary if she knows why it's done this way. You may find that your group is operating under the school's umbrella.
I agree with dlf - I would not want my groups funds to go through the school secretary. My last two groups were under the school's umbrella but we still maintained our own funds via checking and savings accounts.
Some PTOs may not have a treasurer or may not wish to pay the bonding insurance and, therefore, decide to run funds through the school.
I'd recommend that you talk to the secretary to find out why this arrangement was made.
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There seem to be a lot of folks that use that method but for me I don't think it would work. I'd prefer to have the PTO funds separate and administered by the PTO Board and its' members. Just keeps us as a more separate entity and there is always the adage about "he who controls the purse strings". You may be set up like that to avoid the work required to encorporate and become a 501(c)3 organization (since you fall under the schools coverage). But I don't think it would work for our PTO...d
Should our PTO funds (income and dispursements) be going through our school secretary or should they only be handled through the PTO Officer? For some reason our PTO money is ultimately being passed on to and kept up with by our school.
