Question: School Closing and District Reconfiguring

My K-4 school is closing and my district is reconfiguring into grade centers in the fall. While the other 2 elementary school PTOs have decided to just roll over their funds into the new grade centers, my PTO wants to hold all of their monies and give away a small scholarship to an alumni of the school for the next 13 years. My question is, can the PTO do that? If so, who remains in controls of the funds? Who decides who is to receive the scholarship? I am looking to see if there is any specific law or rules that would govern such a thing. We are in the State of Illinois. The PTO is not its own entity or 501c3. It falls under the guise of the district's tax id.

Asked by Anonymous

Answers:

Advice from PTO Today

Craig writes:
Have you talked it over with the principal? If the PTO is not a separate entity, the money technically belongs to the school. You could use it to endow a scholarship fund, but the school -- or in this case the district, because the school is closing -- would have to administer it. They could appoint a committee to oversee it, but I would wonder who will be around in 10 or 13 years to make sure the funds are spent as intended -- or at all.

I guess it depends on how much money you have, but if it were me, I would lean toward using it now, to benefit more kids, rather than saving it for one or two kids a year as they reach graduation age.

Community Advice

jenmoe76 writes:
Craig--I agree completely that the monies should be spent now to benefit all the children however the other members of the pto board disagree. I appreciate your comments and will talk further with the principal