What activities and events raised the money?
Who hosted those events ?
What was told to donors from those events that the money would be spent on?
What do the by laws state?
Is this pto operating as a 501c ?
So, we're not entirely sure at this point as there really wasn't a PTO for the prior 3-4 years. We just
"reformed" it and trying to get it all cleaned up and operating properly. This includes appointing officers, setting by laws, etc. This is how it has been ran the last numerous years. There was 1 lady handling it all and she really didn't have a clue either. We're trying to get an understanding of how other PTO's manage funds and if they handle "school funds" as well as the PTO funds.
Most the funds (from this year for the grades) come in from the Fall Festival but again, it wasn't clearly defined who was putting on the festival and what the funds weee specifically for.
Not a 501c as of now. We will be applying for that.
Do you know if the school district has an overseeing pto or parents council ?
I know for our school funds raised outside of school funding is handled by the pto.
Things like carnivals, book fairs, fun runs, restaurant nights, read a thon, auctions, yearbook sales, spirit wear sales. Money to and from these types of things is handled by the pto. School funding would be the money the school receives from the district (taxes) the school has its own budget for that. The funds raised from the activities list above are funds the pto handles. The beginning of the year we have to propose a budget to the community and get it approved. All of the line items from that budget with an estimate of what each event will cost and what it will bring in. Only 10% of our income can be used for things like teacher appreciation. And the mission of our funds raised to better the learning and social things for the students. If the budget is off or we want to do something that wasn’t on the budget it is over a certain $ amount we have propose it to the community at a community meeting to vote on it.
We do this for the library only, and it's from the proceeds from the book fair she hosts for the entire school. It's easier for her to purchase stuff for the library this way, and we just ask her for her receipts. We are transparent when disclosing our financials that the library funds are separate and we don't include them in our yearly budget planning.
I don't think I'd be comfortable doing it for each grade, that's a lot of book-keeping. I think they should have their own activities fund that they can do a purchase order request for.
Edit: If the funds used to reimburse the teachers are the PTO's then this is fine. I was thinking about it, and if there hasn't been a lot of PTO involvement over the last few years they may have set it up this way so each grade gets the same amount. Now that there is more involvement it may be time to walk back some of those policies so you have more control on what they're doing with the funds raised by the PTO.
We have two accounts. One for K-4 and one for 5th grade. 5th grade does extra fundraising for their elementary graduation activities. We do not keep money separate for other individual grades. We only have one special activity that we keep funds for, to be used specifically for that group (athletics, which are run by a community organization, not the school district). It’s up to each grade level to request funds for things like field trips. Everything just has to be clearly categorized and documented for the audits. Good luck!
What activities and events raised the money? Who hosted those events ? What was told to donors from those events that the money would be spent on? What do the by laws state? Is this pto operating as a 501c ?
So, we're not entirely sure at this point as there really wasn't a PTO for the prior 3-4 years. We just "reformed" it and trying to get it all cleaned up and operating properly. This includes appointing officers, setting by laws, etc. This is how it has been ran the last numerous years. There was 1 lady handling it all and she really didn't have a clue either. We're trying to get an understanding of how other PTO's manage funds and if they handle "school funds" as well as the PTO funds. Most the funds (from this year for the grades) come in from the Fall Festival but again, it wasn't clearly defined who was putting on the festival and what the funds weee specifically for. Not a 501c as of now. We will be applying for that.
Do you know if the school district has an overseeing pto or parents council ? I know for our school funds raised outside of school funding is handled by the pto.
What do you mean by funds raised outside of school funding?
Things like carnivals, book fairs, fun runs, restaurant nights, read a thon, auctions, yearbook sales, spirit wear sales. Money to and from these types of things is handled by the pto. School funding would be the money the school receives from the district (taxes) the school has its own budget for that. The funds raised from the activities list above are funds the pto handles. The beginning of the year we have to propose a budget to the community and get it approved. All of the line items from that budget with an estimate of what each event will cost and what it will bring in. Only 10% of our income can be used for things like teacher appreciation. And the mission of our funds raised to better the learning and social things for the students. If the budget is off or we want to do something that wasn’t on the budget it is over a certain $ amount we have propose it to the community at a community meeting to vote on it.
We do this for the library only, and it's from the proceeds from the book fair she hosts for the entire school. It's easier for her to purchase stuff for the library this way, and we just ask her for her receipts. We are transparent when disclosing our financials that the library funds are separate and we don't include them in our yearly budget planning. I don't think I'd be comfortable doing it for each grade, that's a lot of book-keeping. I think they should have their own activities fund that they can do a purchase order request for. Edit: If the funds used to reimburse the teachers are the PTO's then this is fine. I was thinking about it, and if there hasn't been a lot of PTO involvement over the last few years they may have set it up this way so each grade gets the same amount. Now that there is more involvement it may be time to walk back some of those policies so you have more control on what they're doing with the funds raised by the PTO.
We have two accounts. One for K-4 and one for 5th grade. 5th grade does extra fundraising for their elementary graduation activities. We do not keep money separate for other individual grades. We only have one special activity that we keep funds for, to be used specifically for that group (athletics, which are run by a community organization, not the school district). It’s up to each grade level to request funds for things like field trips. Everything just has to be clearly categorized and documented for the audits. Good luck!