I've agreed to be the PTA president for my children's elementary school next year, but I am still VERY interested in changing to a PTO! Unfortunately, I, too, got some hostility over the whole issue when I brought it up a couple months ago and I've been unable to take the time to research the whole process thoroughly enough to feel comfortable bringing it up again.

How long does it usually take to get a PTO started? Can the change be made over the summer - or can we dissolve the PTA during the summer? Can we start a PTO while the PTA is still going and then dissolve the PTA at the beginning of the next school year? And if we spend all the money, how do we have money to start up the PTO? I'm guessing we can't just take the money from the PTA (before it is disbanded) to start a PTO, pay for the paperwork, insurance, etc! I'm just very worried (and unsure) about the legal aspects of the whole issue. People in our group say this change is too much work but I just can't agree with that if thousands of PTA's have changed to PTO's. We have just recently updated our bylaws and are having a meeting to approve them at the end of the month. I'll have to re-read them to see what they say about dissolution. (is that the correct term??)

Thanks for your help!!

Lisa--SPEND THE MONEY...that's it--just spend it all and then there won't be any to give. They don't have any rights to your money...so just spend it....d

Can anyone help me? We are going through the steps to disband PTA. The funds we have left in our account the higher ups say we need to turn all left over monies to them, but I can't find a thing in bylaws or the pta tool kit about the money and disbanding.

reruho;131425 wrote: Mitchellmom,
I would worry about this plan. #1) Once you give the school the money, they do not have to give it back and can spent it however they want. And #2) This is actually a form of fraud you are committing. If you really want to go PTO, spend all the money down and start you PTO. Why are carrying so much money? .

#1 Totally agree

#2 Uh No- its perfectly legal for a PRIVATE non profit to cede $$$ to another non profit instead of spending the money down and then get a portion back- I agree it doesnt look good- but it is perfectly legal.

Many nonprofits raise funds for more than one year - ie for 1 yr budget and then rollover funds to help start the next yr- It's just good financial sense- 82% of American small businesses die because they dont have capital for more than one year.

Yes it stinks when you have students leaving that dont benefit directly from those funds (ie every single $$$ raised in 1 yr) but that the way the cookie crumbles. The PTA/PTO has to have funds to cover years and years and thousands of studnets in its lifetime. To pigenhole and use that money for only one year is financially irresposible to the stakeholders and children

Mitchellmom,
I would worry about this plan. #1) Once you give the school the money, they do not have to give it back and can spent it however they want. And #2) This is actually a form of fraud you are committing. If you really want to go PTO, spend all the money down and start you PTO. Why are carrying so much money? Didn't you tell your parents they you were fundraising for a specific project? As a parent I would be really upset if I am spending all this time and effort to raise money without a purpose. I want to see the money I helped raise benefit my child. If I had a 5th or 6th grader (depending on your grade configurations) that would not be returning, my focus would be on spending on my child this year, not next year when I am gone.

We are currently looking at disbanding our PTA so that we can start up a PTO. We currently have $28,000 in our PTA account. Can we write the school a check for the amount of $28,000 so that our account will be empty when we disband from the PTA, and then when we start up the PTO have the school write us back the amount so that we can deposit the money into our new PTO account. We really do not want to spend all of the money down just so that we don't have to worry about the PTA taking any of it. Is this legal to do? or is there any other way of getting around this. Any help is appreciated.
Thank you
Mitchellmom