Question: Can the school district say no?

In the fall, our district told all the PTO's we would have to have our own EIN by July 1, 2012. In addition they advised us we could incorporate and file to become a 501(c)(3). As President, I did my research and in Feb 2012 our members approved (it's recorded in our minutes) to get our own EIN immediately and to start the process of incorporating and becoming a 501(c)(3). Our board revised our bylaws and wrote the articles, presented them at our May 2012 meeting and our members approved them. Our articles were filed with the state and approved. An employee of the district office told me recently that we needed to "slow down" and had to wait to file 501(c)(3) papers because they didn't know if they wanted to allow us to become one. As President, isn't it my job to ensure our motions are upheld, as well as our bylaws? Can the school district tell an independent organization that we can't file the paperwork?

Asked by Anonymous

Answers:

Advice from PTO Today

Rose H writes:
You can certainly move forward on this. Did the "employee'' give you any reason why a slowdown had been requested? Not sure what the reason could be, but if you aren't getting any official word from the administration, you should continue on your path. Yes, your job as president is to follow through on the plans the group has made. You would think the school district would be supportive of groups that are becoming 501c(3)s because it is such a smart move.