Was the money raised by the PTO or by the school? If the PTO raised it, did you just hand the money over to your principal in good faith that it would be spent on the equipment? I just wonder if there is something you could do seeing as the PTO is donating money for a specific need, not just for general school use.

hey nonsequiter...let's just say I am a very close neighbor of jeffco. Unfortunately, the more I look into this the more I find out how our principal is telling parents "budget cuts budget cuts!", while the district is telling me they have not cut our budget for the year. She is definitely robbing peter to pay paul and I think she needs to be upfront about using money in areas they were not originally intended. I was reading some of your past posts. I think our principal helped your principal plan that infamous spaghetti dinner!! They have alot of the same qualities

We have a fund raising organization here, not PTA or PTO, just fund raising, and we buy the equipment ourselves and donate it to the school. We found that this way we actually get PE equipment instead of an "end of year bonus" for someone.

When money is concerned, tongues will wag...

We actually had a huge discussion in our area because there were several school funding issues on the ballot.

Everyone agreed that the schools need the money but a lot of people were ready to vote "No" because they know from experience that they can't trust a number of the local administrators to put money where they say it will go.

What happened at your school (Hey are you in Jefferson County? ) is the sort of thing that has created our current atmosphere.

The schools got the money but only barely. Disclosure is a great way to avoid conflicts. There is a great feeling of distrust in our area that doesn't need to be here.

Concerned Mom, you ABSOLUTELY have a right to know how your school's funds are being spent. I'm assuming you are a public school, so the funds for the schools come from taxes and as a citizen and taxpayer you have a right to know where the money is going. If you can't get it from the principal at your school, go to the district office or to your school board members (nobody will tell THEM they can't see how the funds are spent). IF you feel that the principal is improperly allocating or spending public funds, it's important to make an issue of it.

I know that all of the schools in my district send home the financials once a year. I've seen the well designed, professionally prepared one for the school that we left (lots of well to do folks up there) and the half-assed typed up but contained the meat one. Regardless of the package the accountability is there. But it is also painfully obvious that not all funding is equal.