I cannot imagine the PTO taking ownership of computers that would be used in the school. Maintaining such machines are an on-going nightmare and typically must be tied into the school's systems.
In most school districts, there is a technology department or area that makes decisions. And as badly as they are needed, if the computers don't fit the school's criteria, they may not accept them. Computers are a case where the maintenance and support can quickly outweigh the benefit of the donation.
There are all sorts of issues - tying into the school's network, Internet access, legality of software on the systems, compatibility of software, cost of maintaining the equipment, furniture and space where it will be stored, security... The list goes on and on.
It's great you are pursuing this opportunity for the school, but you need to get your district officials involved.
P.S. My experience is that your district would be unlikely to take the computers and reallocate them to other schools if the donor specifically designated a campus. BUT a real possibility is that district funds intended for technology for your campus might be reduced and redirected because your school already has extra or more than others.
donations of PCs to the school become district appropriated, ie district property, only IF district approves the donation.
best person to ask your question to is your schools superintendent. or start with the principal, and they can get the answer from their boss, in case your superintendent is hard to reach.
If the computers are being used by the PTO members in their homes, then you can accept them. However, if the donation is for computers in the school, then you need to go through the school or district for permission to bring something into the school. The school would even have to approve the PTO getting a computer used only by the PTO in their stock room since you would be using the school's internet connection.
Lawyers are allowed to provide legal advice. Most of us hear are not qualified for that.
Here's an unofficial opinion.
As long as the parent is empowered as an agent of his company to donate the company property then it should be legal for them to donate the computers to either the PTO or the school.
Whether it is better to have the PTO or the school district accept the donation has tax implications for both donating company and the PTO (and how it is organized). A donation to the PTO could cause it's gross income to increase dramatically for that year. If the PTO is not a 501 C3 the donation by the company to the PTO may not be tax deductible. See other posts regarding the pro's and con's of become a 501 C3 on this forum.
There is also an issue of support for the computers.
Once the school has them,
Who is going to buy software?
Who is going to fix them if they break?
Who is going to set them up?
Are there enough connections available to put them on a network?
Can the district step in and say the donations needs to be made to the district? Yes, they can say this. They have the ability to say if they are going to allow them into their building.
Can the school district divide them with other schools? The answer depends on the terms under which they are donated to the schools. Remember though, getting 2 of 6 good computers into your child school is better than getting none, so be flexible. I'd be happy to have it known that my PTO helped not only my child's school but other schools as well.
The district can choose to say no to the donation entirely. The reasons I can think that they may choose to do so are,
1) The equipment is too obsolete.
2) They cannot afford the extras that go with getting the computers
3) Working out the deal is getting too complicated.
I suggest that as a PTO, you and that parent sit down with school or district officials and see what works best for everyone. While the PTO may not end up being the group that actually receives and places the equipment in the school, you can still be the facilitator that helped make it happen.
Does anyone know the legalities of a parent from our school PTO wanting to donate computers to our PTO on behalf of the company he works for? Could the district step in and say the donation needs to be made to the district and they will divide them between the schools in the district. Also could they say no to the donation entirely?
