I wrote a PTO handbook that explains everything that we do, what we pay for, etc. When I served my first year as PTO president last year, I didn't have a clue what to do.

Our fourth grade math teacher has been our treasurer for several years now. This works great for our school. She is the only one who can write and sign checks. I certainly wouldn't want the responsibility of handling the PTO's money, but she does a really great job.

Our PTO is not allowed to function unless it has all of its officer positions filled - President, VP, Treasurer, and secretary. Maybe you should check into this as well.

I would definitely report this incident to the Superintendent of Schools. Good luck to you.

Having served on our local BOE I can only think that the hush-hush part of this problem could come from the fact it was a district adminstrator and the Board must keep any personnel matters private.

Now I am on the left coast and NJ might have a different set of governing rules. I state again that personnel matters are usually kept in confidence due to legal ramifications.

You have been dealt a pretty hard hand here - so good luck. I agree with those above who have advised that you go to your superintendent and find out first hand what is taking place.

"Second...it was told to me that the Board of Ed. gave the directive to keep the $1400 incident hush-hush."

my 2 cents:

you have learned of HEARSAY, not fact.

go to super first, then BOE to confirm confirm
confirm confirm confirm or refute the hearsay.

find the truth about money changing hands with a back audit by outside agency

give audit results to super and BOE who should be able to guide you to next steps.

and even the money stuff turns out to be all in order and above board, youre new, you dont know what went on before, you want assurance all is in order, nothing wrong with thta, just good business practice.

I agree with the others--go to the superintendent. This won't stay quiet forever, someone will find out, I know this from experience. And when word gets out, you are going to look just as bad as the rest of them if you keep quiet about it. Go to a board meeting if you can and ask questions. Express your concerns to the school board member who represents you. Talk to parents at your school, let them know what's going on, and ask for help in resolving this issue.

I also think the PTO at the principal's new school should know about this so they can put financial controls into place if they don't have any. Whether or not she committed a crime, if I was that PTO, I would want to know about her reckless attitude toward spending PTO money.

This puts an unfair burden on you, and you are going to have trouble raising money in the future, and fighting this fight is not going to be easy for you, so I applaud you for not taking the easy way out. And when all is said and done, you need to take back control of the checkbook. Good luck!

Thank you everyone. First...the former principal transfered to another school within our district. We had two new schools built and massive staff transfers occured over the summer. She asked for this new assignment. Second...it was told to me that the Board of Ed. gave the directive to keep the $1400 incident hush-hush. Supposedly our former principal was repremanded due to this incident. Do you think that I should enlist the assistance of a PTO within our district to help me resolve this matter?

I agree completely that the missing funds need to be public knowledge. You don't have to finger point but you also, as NewPTO Pres advises, don't want to be dragged down with them.

This is certainly a big problem in itself but your original post alludes to even bigger problems:

Parent Apathy - where are they when the board is being run single handedly? Sure they help raise the funds and should have a say in how they're spent. So, why aren't they coming to meetings, voting on budgets, etc? If more parents would step up and take VP and treasurer roles then the school wouldn't have access to the funds anyway.

Controls - What kind of system is going to be put into place to prevent it from happening again? Do you have bylaws? Check signing rules? If you have to start from scratch and rebuild your fund, why should the parents bother donating?

You need:

1. Elections to get a full board in place.
2. Bylaws - if you can't find a copy, write some. Check the Bonus Tools section for "an exhaustive list of sample bylaws".
3. Financial Controls - two or three board member signatures required, monthly treasurer's reports distributed to parents. Check out the Bonus Tools page for the Treasurer's Toolbox.

It isn't going to be easy. It isn't entirely your fault but you will bear the brunt of the negativity and mistrust.

You are to be commended for sticking with a difficult situation, seeing your commitment through and trying to get things back on the straight and narrow. Enlist help. Put out a true SOS and parents will come out to help you.

[ 08-31-2006, 10:34 PM: Message edited by: CrewChief ]