This was actually suggested by the principal so in terms of our relationship things will not change. This is just in hopes that it will make things a little easier for our organization to function without so many hoops to jump through. I appreciate your input and I have already purchased the start up guide to look through.
Hi Mrsbcook,
You are on the right track, but there are a few things at play here. If you are talking about true independence from your school and principal, you really want to think about the bigger picture, especially regarding your relationship with the principal. If you think you can make this switch and still preserve a cooperative vibe, some of the steps you want to take are making sure your bylaws are solid, getting an EIN so you can have your own bank account, etc. Here's some good info: www.ptotoday.com/pto-today-articles/arti...7-how-to-start-a-pto
Hi Mrsbcook,
You are on the right track, but there are a few things at play here. To some degree, this is just semantics -- a PTC IS a PTO, "PTO" being a generic term for all non-PTA (independent of the national PTA) parent groups. But if you are talking about true independence from your school and principal, you really want to think about the bigger picture, especially regarding your relationship with the principal. If you think you can make this switch and still preserve a cooperative vibe, some of the steps you want to take are making sure your bylaws are solid, getting an EIN so you can have your own bank account, etc. Here's some good info: www.ptotoday.com/pto-today-articles/arti...7-how-to-start-a-pto
Hi there! I just joined this group after googling this same question. Our organization is currently a PTC, meaning that most everything we do must be approved by the board of education or at the very least the school principal. Big things = board approval. Little things = principal. Plus our finances are held by the board and we must have multiple approvals to spend any of the groups money. We are interested in switching to a PTO. Supposedly we would be considered a stand alone organization and would no longer require approval for our functions and would have the capability to establish our own financial account and manage that ourselves. Am I on the right track? I've also been told that as a PTO we would be required to collect member dues. Basically I'm trying to find something that is a set of concrete guidelines on what exactly is required of a PTO and it's members.
Did you understand Tim's point that you already are a "PTO"? PTO is a very generic term for any parent group that works with the school. They are independent organizations with no national affiliation like the PTA has.
As an organization, you potentially buy various things to help you run your organization efficiently: insurance, reference books, accounting services, space for a webpage, etc. The PTO Network (if that's what is confusing you) is one more resource you might choose to purchase. It's basically a subscription to a set of reference material/services. Tim's analogy of AAA is good. Subscribing (e.g., "joining") doesn't change who/what you are - it just gives you access to some specialized services.
The name "Parent Teacher Organization" (PTO) is a very common one, but there are lots of other acronyms groups use. Not everyone here uses PTO as their name.
I still don't quite understand WHY you want to change your name? It doesn't sound like your organization is changing.
Hi!
Thank you to both of you for your reply. It is confusing to many in our community - we're commonly called a PTO and we always have to clarify that we're a PTC (no national affiliation). Seems like splitting hairs but it's a big issue around here because most of our problems come from our founders who insisted that we do it alone. We've done a lot of self educating about benefits of getting some affiliation with an organization like yours. What was confusing really was how it compared to change to affiliation with you versus PTA. Frankly, it seemed deceptively easy to change over to PTO! [img]smile.gif[/img] I was just double checking that I wasn't missing anything. I'm about to go into an organizational review with board and community and this is going to be one of my proposals - get affiliated and this is easier of the two options and will work better for us.
Anyway, thanks for your replies - they made me self aware of how confusing the names are and also gave me some answers to my questions.
