This was the message I received from the PTA concerning the sliding scale. They did not address my specific concern and they have not updated their website with any additional information about budgets (boosterthon expenses/profits or otherwise) since my inquiry


"Boosterthon expenses included the $2,000 flat fee for the “Live” event program plus the expenses of the custom t-shirts that were ordered for all students and staff at the school. The event t-shirts were primarily funded through sponsorships, and partially through PTA funds. Pledges were made in the amount of $23,816.70 and payments collected to-date total $21,837.67. The expense to income ratio is roughly accurate, however the numbers are also affected on a sliding scale by the ratio of pledges made to pledges collected."


They told me that if I had any further questions about the practices of their PTA, I would have to meet with the entire PTA board as well as the school principal. I've been speaking with my lawyer about options I have going forward. I've been in contact with my state PTA office also, although they are extremely understaffed and have been of 'some' help but not a whole lot, to be honest.

3. I've found that expenses/income from their major Boosterthon LIVE fundraiser as reported on the spreadsheet don't jive with the boilerplate sliding pricing scale. I've asked the PTA for clarification on if their contract had a different pricing scale in place. (www.fairfaxunderground.com/forum/file.ph...thon_Contract.10.pdf)

I provided the PDF file shown above and was wondering if it was determined if a different sliding scale was indeed in place?

On a related note, a parent in Colorado informs me that her request for a copy of Booster's contract went unreplied. It's perhaps complicated by the fact that she hasn't paid dues because of a run-in she had with the PTA on a separate matter.

I totally get that people on PTA Boards don't have limitless amounts of time on their hands. But just generally speaking, wouldn't it be considered "best practices" to be transparent with parents about contracts which affect their children - even if they're not a paying PTA member?

Thanks for the explanation about the insurance...makes sense when you put it that way

My overall feeling of "something sinister" going on so to speak, is outlined in part in my original post (which I don't necessarily expect people to go back and look at FWIW). This PTA has NO idea the number of financial indiscretions that have been committed by the person primarily in charge of the finances both in their personal finances, as well as things that have gone through the local court system. I struggle with that, and have already tried to engage with the PTA president via email that we should have a phone chat about various things, but up to this point, this person has not taken me up on my offer. I'm not sure they will, given what they may have been told already from a single point of view.

There have been 5 reported cases of financial wrongdoing in elementary PTAs in my state in 2015 already. I'm sure I don't have to tell you, it's usually because people tend to trust and nobody is looking, and one misguided individual is exploiting that fact.

I feel sorry for those folks because a plan like that allows for a lot of potential ambiguity and lack of financial control IMO.

And to your point, this exact same fundraiser happened at this school in March 2015, just 6 months before they decided to immediately institute it again. And there is no information available to the public as to how much was raised in March, where the money was allocated, what great things the school has to show for it, etc. If I ran a great fundraiser, raised a significant amount of $$, used the funds to help out with classroom technology, a new playground set, a field trip to someplace of cultural and academic significance...whatever it is...I sure would want people to know about. The one in March must have been successful if they decided to do it again a mere 6 months later.

The officers of this PTA changed over completely between last year and this year...except for one member...

That's a huge concern for me with this group. They ask for money all the time but have no public information as to what the money is spent on, how the school has benefited, why it matters to join and work with the PTA, and how their goals coincide with the mission and goals set forth by the state and national PTA. None of that...in fact, this fun run that has happened twice in 6 months is in direct conflict with the idea that "Children should not be the primary means of soliciting within fundraising activities". I know this isn't the first or last PTA to violate this idea, and fun runs are all the rage at the moment. I get that.

I recognize this thread is getting way off topic from my original inquiry about the 990 forms. This PTA basically said that they recognize 990 forms are a good idea, but they don't have the time or resources to do them. And technically, they don't have to. Just to close the loop on the original question LOL.

Thanks all.

If it's over $300 for the insurance, it is highly likely that it includes crime coverage. PTA policies cost less than PTO policies, and my general liability alone is about $200. Crime coverage is about $100, and D&O liability about $75. Those are the three policies most groups get. So I don't think you need to worry about them not having it. I would definitely suggest to them that they check the requirements of the policy to make sure they are in compliance with the bank reconciliation requirements. I worked on audits for 4 different schools over the summer--every single one of them was out of compliance. If yours doesn't know about it, don't think there's anything sinister going on just because of that.

As for the lack of plan for the $20K....what they've told you sort of is a plan. Especially if they had never run this type of fundraiser before, then they probably wanted to see how it made out before they got people's hopes up. And they've limited it to two specific categories, which is better than saying it's for general operations. I'm not sure why you say you feel sorry for those who organized it in good faith--it sounds like it was successful. (Heck, I was in a Title 1 school with 1100 kids, and if we had one fundraiser that raised $20K, we would have been over the moon!) And the teachers get some input on how to spend the money. And it's going for technology and (I'm assuming classroom) supplies. What's not to like?

This is a PTA in a state just south of you, mum24kids

I've confirmed with this PTA that the board of directors and the PTA officers are one in the same.

They have also told me that their 'bonding' and 'liability' insurance are one in the same. I know they are not the same thing. Their external documentation that they provide to the membership lists the line item as 'liability insurance', with a cost of slightly over $300 for the year. Does this sound right to you? I'm not really sure how much it's supposed to cost. They have not disclosed who their insurance vendor is to me.

Also, my state has a 'no family member of someone with check signing authority can serve on the audit committee' rule, which according to the state, can be interpreted by the individual PTAs however they wish. So, given my step-son's family member has check signing authority...guess what happened. This PTA has excluded me as a candidate to review the books each month. Technically this person and I have no relation whatsoever, but since the PTAs in essence get to hand pick their people...anyway

That said, they did not deny that any member of the PTA (including me) could look at the 'file in the office', although I have to go through the PTA to arrange for it (the same people who won't let me be on the audit team). I asked the school principal already, but they would not grant me access to the file. This is going about how I expected it to go, honestly. The person who I have concerns about doesn't want me anywhere near the file.

Oh and the annual fundraiser is complete and over 20K was raised. There is no real plan on how to spend the money yet though. I was told it was for "technology and supplies", and that teachers were allowed to submit '
"wish lists" of what they wanted and then they would allocate the funds from there...how about...my wish list is that I wish you had an actual plan for spending that kind of money BEFORE subjecting everyone to a classroom time invasive fun run the second week of school...I feel sorry for the folks on this PTA board and membership who organized this effort in good faith. I'm sure there are some.

In closing, my lawyer has advised me to stand down for the moment on this chase with this group. I'm sure it won't stay that way for long though. Thanks for reading all...

Something in one of your posts lead me to believe you're in northern Virginia. If that's true, I can fill in a couple of blanks for you.

1. This PTA, to my knowledge, has no actual board of directors per say. They have 4 'officers' but I'm not thinking that's really supposed to be the same thing. Who knows though, they don't refer to any sort of 'board' publicly, only officers. I've asked the PTA president directly who their board of directors are, and she didn't give me any more information on that.
Virginia has done a poor job of encouraging local units to incorporate, so most have not. So VA PTAs only know the terms in their bylaws, and there's no separate BOD--the officers are the Board.

2. I just confirmed with the state office today on this...when a local PTA flags their annual review as complete, it's akin to just going into the state website and checking a box that says 'yup we did this'. The state has no actual information as to the content of the annual review at all. I've asked my local PTA for a copy of said report on multiple occasions and they have produced nothing. I suspect it either doesn't exist, or its not in any sort of form that is meant to be for public consumption if it actually does.
This makes me think you're not in Virginia, because as of a few months ago, in VA you had to submit your annual audit to the state in order for the state to issue you their annual letter qualifying you for state sales tax exemption. You don't get away with just saying you did the audit report and then not submitting anything, unless they've really started slacking off in the state PTA office.

Most of the VA PTAs get their insurance through rvnuccio.com. Fidelity bond coverage is inexpensive so most VA PTAs do get it. Check page 11 of their loss control guide here for their requirement on signing off on the bank statements monthly. That requirement isn't specifically addressed in the article Craig references, and is honestly far more important than the annual audit. I have found that most PTA/PTOs aren't aware of this requirement from their insurance company, so it's often overlooked. If they don't use RVNuccio for their insurance, they use AIM, who has a similar requirement.