Question: Should PTO be involved in opening a Building Fund Account for a new building.
We are a PTO with 501c3 status. We are tied to a public charter school. As many other schools, we are finding severe financial difficulties, and are needing to grow our student body, but do not fit in our current location to do so. A building committee has been formed and the request has been made for our PTO to open a Building Fund/Escrow Account. Right now we are looking at a partnership with another entity, where they would build the school and we would then rent from them. We are hoping that if we are able to help with fundraising, we can use that as leverage to lower our monthly rent. Because the property would be owned by this other entity, we do not want our school district to have control of the building if something were to happen and our school no longer existed- hence the suggestion to go through the PTO to mange the finances. We are still in the the brainstorming and planning stages, but wondered if you had any basis for guidance. I did read the article on What Should PTO's pay for. We have 3 years to find a solution, or our school cannot operate (mostly due to continued rising costs in benefits, salaries, and money paid back to the school district). Any help, advice, or directions to look for more information would be helpful. Thank you.
Asked by Anonymous