Once you go into the bank, I am certain they will be able to guide you in putting something in place to avoid anything like this happening again.
We have 3 members on our board, who are signers on the account and a 4th member is required to sign off as verifying the 3 are who they say they are, as well as, they have been elected to those specific offices. And all of that is verified with the May meeting minutes. This is done each year and if there are any officer changes within a term. I don't know if this system was put in place by our group, or if it is the banks policy. But I would feel pretty good about a bank holding to whatever you set forth. The bank would be my first source for determining a good policy. From there, you can bring it before your group to vote on and then make it a part of your by-laws.
Bringing it before your group for a vote may seem like you are pointing fingers, but my feeling is that it makes your group transparent. And it acknowledges to all, that you are aware of the issue and are taking steps to rectify it. $30k is big number, parents want to feel assured it won't happen again and they want to feel confident about the leadership.
I would be inclined to draft a letter to the former treasurer to recoup the $300. I'd have it notorized and sent certified. I'm sure she has plenty of egg on her face and there's no real need to make it worse, but I would at least attempt to recover the $300. She might re-pay it and she might not, but she probably won't do it if she's never asked to.
I think I'm just dumbfounded I guess that someone could take that upon themselves to just take $30,000 and invest it in long term CDs when it was decided not to, and to make it worse she did it the the day before she had to turn everything over to the newly elected treasurer. In the big pictured, it doesn't hurt anything as we'd only be penalized $300 if we remove it, but it's still $300. And, she's a parent in the school and community, so don't want to do anything to hold her responsible, I think she's got plenty of egg already from just doing it now.
I'll take your advice on talking to the bank first and find out how it happened and see if something can be put in place since we are an organizational account to keep it from happening again. My guess is since the treasurer is on the account, she can just do it since it's her name. I am thinking we can also address it in our bylaws as well and require two board members for any financial changes or transactions over a certain dollar amount, but that doesn't mean the banks know or will hold to it. I'll have to find that out.
Do you need to re-open your group's account? Were you counting on those funds for the upcoming year? Do you want to know how to avoid this kind of problem in the future? Or, do you want the person held responsible somehow?
The first thing I'd do is set up a meeting at the bank, with the manager, you and the president of your group from last year. I would want to know how one person was able to accomplish closing the account and investing in a CD, without any other board member/officer. You'll have a better picture after that meeting and an idea about how best to get to your goal.
There was a recent vote to invest funds from the PTO in long term CDs by the PTO board. Two options were provided with no majority when voted (tied 3 a piece) with 5 not voting for either option.
The day before the treasurer's last day "officially" as an officer, she closed the account that the funds were in and invested the money in CDs anyway.
As the incoming president, any recommendations on moving forward, without overreacting?
