Question: pto funds

how can the present pto board give funds raised by elementary school to a high school function without first letting all parents have a say so on how the money is going to be spent since it is not going to benefit their children at all we are talking about a 500 dollars donation with just a quick vote

Asked by Anonymous

Answers:

Advice from PTO Today

Craig writes:
Well, procedurally it sounds like this was handled correctly. A request for funds was made and a vote was held at a general meeting to authorize the distribution of those funds. To play devil's advocate, I'd say that all parents did have a say on how that money was used -- they simply chose not to exercise that right by not attending the meeting. The other issue is whether the PTO ought to have spent money for that purpose, since it doesn't directly benefit the current students at the school. Personally, my answer would depend on how large the PTO budget is. If $500 was donated out of a $3,000 budget, that definitely seems like too much. If the budget is $20,000, it's a lot less clear.