Tim,
About the school getting a 20% "cut" on fundraisers. (Yes, we're a public school)It's a district policy. The individual school receives the funds, it doesn't go to the district.I personally think it's kind of silly since our PTO has a pretty much open pocket policy as far as the principal asking for funds, but with the county's policy, I guess it guarantees that the school will get SOMEthing from the fundraisers just in case the PTOs/PTAs in the district happen to want to be tight fisted.
We're in North Carolina. I don't know if our county's policy is similar to the other districts in the state.We get some of the school district's funding from the County Commissioners and we had quite a battle a few years ago because they intended to cut the budget severely--they were short on their own budget due to some very poor decisions( like a stadium that no one uses). I'm not certain, but I originally became aware of the 20% fundraiser thing shortly after our school district's budget was kept at the previous year's amount( shortfall of several $million from what's actually needed).
<blockquote>quote:</font><hr> PTO president dislikes us so much that she refused to sponsor us although it has been done for years <hr></blockquote>
We had a similar situation a few years ago. Though there were definately personality clashes in our case, the real reason the PTO stopped sponsoring our den had to do with the conditions in the legal contract the PTO would have to sign. There were requirements that the PTO simply could not fulfill like providing a place to hold meetings - the PTO doens't own a facility and being responsible for checking the backgrounds of the scout volunteers. You might want to take a close look at the sponsorship form and consider if those are conditions your PTO can agree too. Maybe there's personalities mixed up in your situation, too, but there may also be a very rational reason why the PTO should stop sponsoring the pack. In the end, the school principal signed the form and the boy scouts are all set.
With the new info, I agree -- it's odd (very odd) for a PTO to think they have the ability to charge another group for school use. Have never seen that before.
On a related note, sherwoodpkmom -- I have also never heard of a district taking a "cut" of all fundraising proceeds automatically. Strikes me very funny. Is yours a public school? Does that cut go towards the schools operating budget or towards a particular fund? Very interesting.
WOW. I know our PTO( and I'm sure everyone else's could use extra cash)--but to try to make it from the backs of Boy Scouts is outrageous!
In our school district, the SCHOOL has the option of charging for others to use the facilities for meetings--I've never heard of them actually doing it. The school district( all policies are spelled out on the county's school district web page, yours probably has the same thing..I'd check it out) has in place a clause that the SCHOOL receives 20% of a handfull of fundraiser type activities--PTO gives 20% on major ones such as Santa's workshop or Entertainment book sales, but dances and things of that sort which directly benefit the kids are not considered fundraisers, although they DO make money. Paperwork must be filled out prior to that fundraiser listing type, how much money is anticipated and things like that. When the fundraiser is concluded, the remaining information is entered on the form and passed on to the principal along with the school's "cut".
This way, it's a mutually beneficial situation and after all, aren't we doing things to benefit the kids in our schools? Any money the PTO earns is supposed to be used for the benefit of the school anyway, not just fill PTO's bank account.
As for roughrider's point of a public school being public--I agree, my taxes are paying for it to be there, but as we all know, that doesn't mean that those taxes cover all the necessary things--that's why we fundraise. The school will have additional expenses incurred having the school available on a Saturday for a fundraiser--the custodian for one since he'll have to police/clean up after, and I know in our case, when PTO uses the kitchen facilities during a dance to serve food, we are required to have one kitchen staff person in attendance and must pay time and a half wages for the time she's there. So it isn't reasonable to expect the school to cover that expense--the group that uses the facility should.Our school has been kind enough to allow the use of the school without a fee( although a fee is also allowed for by the county), as long as we cover the cost of the staff.
I called our school board yesterday and they told me that the PTO has no right to do that. Someone from there acutally used the words illeagal! I am to tell the cub scout leaders that they are to give no money to the PTO and if there is a problem, the cub scouts are to call our superintendant. I called my den leader and she is calling the others. Hopefully, this will work out.
The statement that the PTO does not own the school is exactly what the school board said.
I'll keep everyone posted. Thanks again for all your opinions and help!
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I do hope our PTO won't get any ideas from this!! They are so far behind in the budget that it seems like a good idea. You all know my history of when I was a secretary with our PTO , now I am the den leader, secretary and assistant cub master in our Cub Scout pack. The new PTO president dislikes us so much that she refused to sponsor us although it has been done for years. In my honest opinion, the PTO has no right to charge for usage of the school. Thats ridiculous. Maybe if it were a PTO function and the scouts stood to make some money off of them. Maybe if they used people from the PTO to run it. Other than those, there is no reason, unless of course the PTO owns the school. (Some PTO's, you'd think that!!) I mean actually owns the property,(yeah that's gonna happen). But seriously, what did the principal have to say about this?? He/she is the only one, besides the school board, that could possibly have any say in them being charged for usage. I have never heard of a group being charged that is directly linked to the school, such as Cub Scouts, Girl Scout, etc. I can see schools charging outside groups for usage though. Keep us posted though.
-Debby
