You are really quite lucky. Our school district made us jump through quite a few hoops just to establish ourselves as a PTO as opposed to a PTA even though there had been no active PTA for over a year. Then after a few rewrites of our bylaws we had to present ourselves to the school board and allow them to vote whether or not to allow a PTO at our school. We won 4-3. Needless to say the PTA has a stronghold on our district. The District PTA even has a person on the school board. We were the first school to make the switch and a year and a half later they are slowly starting to accept us. We must submit all monetary records twice a year for thier approval. They also must approve any fundraisers in advance.
Thank you so much for all of your great advice. This site is fantastic! So far, I have offered the 990's and reports that I hand out in meetings, account balances, category income and expense, etc. I have done that without asking for explanation. However, I will require a compelling reason for them to see every single transaction we have made. We shall see...Thanks again!
This is a fight you may or may not want to take on. Like Tim pointed out you are under no legal obligation to provide that information to them unless there is a state law requiring it, not that detail of a level in any case.
I will add that the disclosure requirements are a little more than just the 990s. Certain information not included on the 990 is also required to be provided, but not the sort of information you have provided here.
If we were to get a request like yours the first step we would probably go through would be to have the request put in writting with a request for a detailed explaination of why the particular information is needed, beyond what the federal and state requirements are.
Your annual report will also cover everything you have enumerated here.
I have a feeling that if you all do this, the excessive items on the request will disappear.
We send in a yearly financial report to our district's business manager. It is the same one we present to the membership. Like Tim said it is all about cooperation and checks and balances. The school district also has to present a financial report.
I don't think I would want to butt heads on such a small request. A request that anyone is entitled to. Even if the financial state of your district is poor, they cannot just come in and take PTO funds...unless your not 501 c3 compliant and you have your bylaws to back you up.
Requesting a financial report and requesting to see every deposit ticket and check stub are two different things. If I read correctly they are asking for a financial report only, which your group should already have made available to your membership at the beginning of the school year for the previous year.
You're likely not "legally obligated" to show every check stub and deposit ticket. But by the same token, the district is not "legally obligated" to allow you to host your meetings on school grounds (paying for evening janitor, etc.)or use the backpack express for mailings.
Cooperation between district and PTOs usually is best for both parties.
