Legal independence doesn't necessarily mean complete autonomy. Theoretically, you could run your PTO totally separate from the school, never using their building, never interacting with their staff/students and thus do pretty much whatever you want (subject to your mission). But what would be the point and how could you be effective?
That being the case, you have to find a way to get along with the school administration. How much authority they have / how much control they want varies, but I've found communication and compromise is the key. Some things are non-negotiable. You must follow their safety regs and their policies when using their building, communicating with students, etc. Others require give and take, such as who approves what and activities that fall under your umbrella rather than the school's.
Becoming a 501(c)(3) is definitely a good step. But it's no magic bullet for issues you may have working with the school administration. Keep the common goal in mind. Go for the easy win/win first and chip away at the problematic issues.
Some times mere words get in the way. Our district had a policy that elementary schools could have only 2 fundraisers per year - regardless who "owned" them. That seems limiting until you define what a "fundraiser" is. We had people thinking the PTO could only do two "things" per year that weren't free, which wasn't true at all. The district merely wanted to limit the big catalog/cookie dough type sale campaigns so parents weren't being hit every month. But lots of other activities - that raised funds - were still possible.
Hey this my first time to post. Our PTO has recently applied to be a non profit corporation and will file the necessary 501 C 3 papers with the IRS. The question that I would like to ask is by coming a non profit corporation, does this status give us more control as a independent organization or do we still must apply all school district guidelines when voting and deciding on what our expenses will be? And allowing the school district to dictate our decisions. I enjoy serving and working/volunteering for our school PTO over our District wants to tell us what we can do and what we can not do and all these rules and regulations to abide by. So I am curious at to what limits the school to place restrictions on our organization? Appreciate any feedback!!!!
