I served on a middle school booster club for 2 years. Last year there was talk of our group disbanding because our district has an "Education Foundation" our superintendent was trying to force us into. We were willing to do it, when/if some of our questions/concerns were addressed. Basically...where is the interest going, do we still have a say in where our money is spent or are they going to have the last say so, how long does it take us to access money, can we keep a "petty cash" checking, etc. We also asked to see a sample of how the recording was done on their end as they have strong armed 3 other schools into joining with them, putting the number of groups involved to 7-10. We wanted to make sure we could trust that the money would be there when we needed it.
We got a lot of the issues resolved and the majority of the board had agreed to stay on. The school year started with a note home from the principal saying our group had disbanded and they wanted to start a new group up. I'm not at the school this year, but will have another there next year so I am still concerned about this. I have talked to the "president" who showed up at a meeting with minutes, agenda, etc., only to be told that it wasn't a meeting for the booster club? She is really struggling with this because we have been outright lied to. I am sooo glad I'm not there this year, but feel I still have a right to voice certain concerns. One of those concerns is the fact that we approved $2000.00 for student planners for our 600 students. We have done this for many years and the students paid $2.00. The end of last year we approved this money and gave it to the school, thinking it was all resolved. Students were charged $5.00 each this year for a plain planner and we were told because they switched companies and the cost was more. (Why would switch companies and pay more?) We looked into this and found that they had NOT switched companies. The principal said she didn't know if she would have support or not, so she did not use the money as we had approved.
How can we try to repair this?? It is important that something is there for the children, however, it is just as important that there is a trust there. We have been very open and honest with the principal and superintendant on our opinions, but they seem to continually lie to our face.
Any advice????
Sooo stressed :confused: