I would have to say yes, if you are not a 501(C)(3), independant organization, then you may very well fall under the umbrella of the school. And this may mean that they control your hard earned funds, control the back account, gets to decide on what the funds are used for, etc.
Another area you need to check/let us know about, is your Bylaws. If you have Bylaws then your group should be running based on what they indicate. If you do not have them, as many non-independant groups run, then you might not have a leg to stand on. You may be nothing more than a money raising group controlled by the school administrator. And IMO I am not a big fan of this type of setup.
But changing it may be extremely difficult as you would need support of the school administrators, and why would they want things to change.
You might try to find a legal justification for the change and promote it in that way.
Our article, "
Whose Rules, School or PTO
" has been getting some good questions in the comments section. I'm reposting this one here (I'll let the author know where to find it) as it's a better spot for this type of specific discussion.
<snip>
I am the president of our local PTO, and we are dealing with some issues regarding our rights as a PTO. Do rights change when the school is a Private Christian Preschool? If we do not have out own 501(c)3 status and are using the Church/Preschool for that, does that give them more control of how we spend our money or what rights we have? Thanks for your help!
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