There are really two agencies, I think, who specialize in PTA/PTO/Booster club insurance--RVNuccio and AIM. You can check with them, but the rates are usually comparable for PTAs and PTOs. (I believe they both provide online quotes.) PTA rates were a little cheaper (for reasons I couldn't begin to explain) a few years ago; they might have leveled out now.
You can also go to an independent insurance agent and have them find replacement coverage for you, but it's usually much more expensive going that route.
We looked into dissolving (ultimately decided against it) and converting to a PTO. Based on all of the information that I found on this site, google, and by talking to other people we determined that the best way to do it would be to hold a single small fundraiser under the PTO name to raise the funds necessary to become an official non-profit organization, with our own EIN, 501(c)(3), and incorporated status. We would then set up bank accounts, elect board members and have an official PTO, without having dissolved our PTA. Our goal was to be ready to start the next school year with both organizations in place. Then for the entire school year, we would run all fundraising events through the PTO, but all bills and events that cost money through the PTA. The goal being to empty out the PTA bank account before dissolving our group so that the state PTA wouldn't have any funds to take away. Once the bank accounts were empty, we would then have a meeting for members to vote to dissolve the PTA and contact the state PTA and inform them of our intent to dissolve. At that point there would have been hoops to jump through with them regarding threats of audits (they may or may not actually follow through on the threats) and requests for bank records to verify what money they may be entitled to.
Bottom line here is that (to my knowledge) there is no quick and easy way to do this. It's a fairly long process, and one that ultimately would have been a bad decision for our school. I know that PTA gets a bad rap from time to time, but there are benefits to going that route, just as there are benefits to being an independent group. The best advice I can give is to do what we did before deciding. Research on this site, use google to do some more searching, read a copy of your state PTA bylaws, and then take all of that information to an attorney and get some advice (we found one within our school who was willing to advise us for free).
I guess I should also point out that the reasons we ultimately decided against it had nothing to do with problems with the process or fear of dealing with the state PTA. We simply realized that we could have been getting a lot more value for our dues that we weren't taking advantage of, and decided that we should put some more effort into PTA before deciding that it wasn't worth the money we were sending them. At this point, we're going to give it a couple of years and then re-evaluate and make a decision then.
Unfortunately, it's not that simple. Check out your by-laws - most say that if a PTA is dissolved thenall assets shall be distributed to the state PTA. You probably don't want that!
Leaving does not have to be complicated at all. Just set up a different group and stop paying dues to the the P.T.A. You'll be a P.T.O. immediately. I know that sounds harsh, but leaving shouldn't be tricky. Why would any organization want groups that don't want it? You can do the steps they lay out (we did it, it wasn't that hard) but if it gets too complicated or if P.T.A. gives you a hard time just forget about them. The important thing is what you do for kids not the silly rules that makes no sense.
You'll find that folks have a ton to say on this topic, and much of it has already been said. My suggestion -- grab a cup of coffee, see if you can find a half an hour, and explore the back discussions in this category.
If you have specific questions, I'm sure you'll get direct feedback. The back discussions should really give you a good feel for the variety of opinions.
