I would say they are easy to enforce. I have been an officer on our PTO board for six years and we've never had issue with the finances. As the current Co-President, we require two signatures on every check which helps with the check and balance. We also conduct an internal financial review and then have an outside third party conduct an audit to ensure everything is on the up and up. In addition, in order for anyone to get a check from our PTO, including officer, we must submit a "Check Request Form" which is voted on prior to funds being issued. It is also is imperative that you have a group of people that are willing to work together for the benefit of the kids and the school.
I am a former PTO President. Our state requires school support organizations to adopt policies, create charters and function within the state guidelines however, when the Board tries to enforce policies and follow the law, the principal tries to control things. Current Board members and teachers are afraid to speak up for fear of retaliation. So...you take your concern to Central office where they are supposed to uphold the rules and they instead seek a legal opinion from the county attorney seeking a way to circumvent the situation. While you can prevent outright theft by following the guidelines, which are very good suggestions, there are still ways to get around it. Sad!
our finances all run through the school checking account so I am the checks and balances as the treasurer. but the most depressing thing to me in regards the the email just sent out on this topic is that some PTO's actually have $35,000 to embezzle. we're looking at ending the year with about 1200
Much can be accomplished if check-writing privileges are restricted to two signature checks (with the treasurer and one other officer as the only bank authorized signers).
Definately hard to do in our PTO. We have a wonderful new treasurer this year who is trying to put checks & balances into place and the old time crew is resisting. They conveniently forget. We are working on it tho!
