Question: Board approves $2500 expenditure without notifying membership

The PTO board approved an expenditure for a "volunteer" to be paid for teaching the students dance during P.E. (while the PE teacher and aide still got paid and were minimally involved). This expenditure was never brought to the general membership's attention or even a discussion outside the executive board. This PTO has nonprofit status. Any thoughts on the legality of this?

Asked by Anonymous

Answers:

Advice from PTO Today

Craig writes:
There's no legal issue, but I agree with you that a decision of that magnitude should have been discussed with the group as a whole. Also, depending on how this was structured, there could be some reporting obligations to the IRS and state tax bureau. The simplest way would be to donate the money to the school and have the school do the hiring. Anything else will require some additional tax reporting.

Community Advice

MVStudio writes:
Also check your constitution and/or bylaws as there is probably a section on what the board can and can not approve without a membership vote. Ours has a $200 limit, and then only when it must be spent before there is time to bring it to the membership.