Do I think this proposal was a good idea? Maybe not.
But to be fair, I think the school district got an unfair rap in the press on this one. Because - as usual - it's much easier to sensationalize the issue with words that trigger emotional responses. And, frankly, I'm disappointed PTO Today didn't take a more balanced view.
Calling it a "tax" on parent donations garners much more interest than stating it in more releastic terms that they were discontinuing the exemption of administrative fees on certain PTA/PTO grants.
The general idea was that when a school/the district accepted any type of grant money, there were administrative costs associated - especially if it was for something like hiring a staff member or a technology implementation or program that required monitoring. Therefore, 3.3% of the grant money needed to be allocated towards those overhead costs as an administrative fee.
In the one instance cited, the PTO was giving $86,000 for a school librarian position (and some other staffing issues). In that case, 3.3% would have been allocated to the district for the expenses associated. (Normally, the fee would not be "on top of" the grant amount - but if they truly needed $86,000 for the position, they would have had to aim a bit higher to cover the fee as well.)
So now what happens? No fee will be assessed. That school gets their extra library staff position. Good for them! BUT the district DOES still have costs associated with this transaction, even if they are "soft costs" such as time.
So what gets cut from that school's budget to make up the difference (i.e., staff costs, legal review, reporting) or what task doesn't get done because of time spent on this one? If the funds to support administration of this grant/contract instead comes from a more central budget, then that means ALL THE OTHER SCHOOLS are indirectly chipping in to fund that librarian position. What did THEY not get to make that happen?
When PTO/PTAs start donating money of this magnitude, there are responsibilities beyond writing the check. This is not a cut and dried situation. And please don't tell me the PTO will simply hand over $86,000 with no expectations, no written agreeement (which has to be reviewed by legal, monitored, tracked as a different type of revenue). That would make it even worse.
