The administration has no valid reasons for not having one. They said it was ok to start one,but they didn't see a need for one. Then it was said that there wasn't enough parental interest. They even assigned a teacher to help with starting the PTO, but after she sent home flyers with the students about starting a PTO, she was told that she shouldn't have done that because they couldn't decide on a name. Another teacher told me that at the faculty meeting that it was too complicated financially(non profit organization, tax forms, etc) for us (the parents) to be successful. They are saying its alright to have one, but seem to be throwing up excuses and roadblocks everytime we turn around.
If you don't have the support of the administration, it's going to be tough to operate a PTO, although it can be done. I think your best bet at this point would be to try to get the administration behind you. What are their objections? Can you get your supporters together and meet with the administration and find out why they don't want one and let them know what great things the PTO can do for the school? It sounds like a little eductation is what is needed here.
The principaland administrator of our small charter schools are trying to keep us from forming a PTO. We have teachers that are interested and only about 10 parents. We really feel a need for one as the school is keeping us in the dark. How do we start one?
