I apologize for the length of this message. But, I need some help. Our ByLaws are so thin & weak that I cannot even use them for guidance.
In November I assumed the role as treasurer. Here are the facts, I'll add my commentary seperately.
-On November 5, 2012 I met with PTO President to review Treasury items and conduct official turnover of the Treasurer position. As the new treasurer, I received bins of binders containing older financial records. The current treasury binder had receipts & check requests placed in the folder dividers. The items were unorganized and poorly categorized, making the task of balancing the budget difficult.
-I was not placed on the PTO bank account(s) until January 11, 2013. On Wednesday, January 23, 2013 I was advised all paperwork and required signatures were received and complete. Thus, giving me proper Treasurer authorities.
-During the majority of this timeframe PTO President maintained possession of the checkbook. Approximate timeframe is the 1st of December until January 4, 2013. When PTO Pres. returned the checkbook to me, it was full of receipts placed in the corresponding check slot. There were also past due invoices given to me with the instruction of "these need to be paid."
-From December 4, 2012 to January 4, 2012 there were 15 checks written totaling $2,858.78. I have those expenditures broken down categorically.
-The invoices I received on January 4, 2012 were the following:
[BLOCKQUOTE]
Merchant #1 12/10/12 $45.22
Merchant #2 11/19/12 $2,362.59
Merchant #3 90+ Days $217.59
Merchant #4 12/03/12 $2,417.13
Merchant #5 12/10/12 $89.70
TOTAL: $5,132.23
All invoices, except Merchant #5, were 30+ Days overdue.
[/BLOCKQUOTE]
-Several purchases were made without review or approval by the Organization or Executive Board and were paid directly to the merchant from the PTO checking account. Two items* listed below were not presented or approved during the budget review process. None of the expenditures listed below were discussed, reviewed, or approved to be spent/paid-out/reimbursed by the Organization during a regularly scheduled meeting or by the Executive Board at any time.
Event #1 expenditures and Event #2 expenditures, specifically, violate PTO By-Law Executive Board Duties: "... The Executive Board has the authority to approve expenditures that are not in excess of $500.00. Voting issues will be decided by a majority vote. Five voting members must be present to constitute a quorum."
1. Event #1 $1,813.59 ($1003.51 is reimbursement; the receipt was not reviewed by Organization before reimbursement was issued)
2. Event #2* $531.18
3. Event #3 $200.00
4. Event #4* $67.40
5. Event #5 $49.97
-It should be noted there are 2 gift cards, purchased by PTO Pres directly from PTO bank acct, that are unaccounted for, totaling $45.00
-PTO Pres. has an outstanding debt to Event #1 in the amount of approximately $100.00.
-PTO President took it upon themself to spend $2,662.14 without discussing expenses with any member of the Organization or Executive Board while disregarding the $5,132.23 in past due invoices.
Those are the facts I have compiled and presented to the Principal. I have also sat down with the PTO President to discuss those issues, so they are aware. They have until the next meeting to provide answers.
There are other issues, but I'm afraid they can be viewed as being catty and that's not the image I want to portray. However, they do play a role in the foundation of mistrust I have for our PTO President. It should be noted the Organization has carried a large balance ($20K+) for many years, and this has many parents a bit jaded (for a lack of better term) regarding the financial practices of the group. Lastly, there is only one sentence pertaining to the governing of PTO funds.
- The PTO Pres. makes it a point to give those involved in PTO a sob-story ... Spouse left, they don't receive proper funds from spouse, can't afford to do this & that, can't afford to purchase items for PTO and be reimbursed, etc.
- We had left over concessions that were going to expire before our next event. The VP stated she would purchase them from PTO. I met the VP at the school to complete the transaction and the concessions were gone. The PTO President took them home. That was several weeks ago. The PTO Pres. has neither offered to pay for them, return them, or arrange a drop-off to the VP.
- I have received 2 different stories of the whereabouts of the two missing giftcards. PTO Pres has tried multiple times to pass the blame to another board member. Ironically, I have a text requesting me to meet PTO Pres at the restaurant matching missing giftcards. I was unable to make it that day. Also, there are 2 additional giftcards that we cannot confirm or deny the actual recipient. The recipient is a friend of the PTO President's that did a last minute favor for the Organization. The day of the favor the PTO Pres stated to me "he owed me anyway" when I asked about the cost of services.
-Most recently we held an event in which the kids could vote by pennies into a jar. Each day the jars were emptied. We're not sure who emptied the jars, who did the second count, and where the funds were stored during the two-week voting period. I attended the event as an attendee, not a volunteer. Myself and the VP were assured our help was not needed as there were volunteers for the event. When we arrived at the event, there were only 2 volunteers. The PTO President and their friend. The event was a great success, so great myself, three other parents, and the principal had to jump in to help. At the end of the night I stated to the PTO President, "lets count the money real quick." The PTO President became angry and said very stearnly "CLEANING is my priority!" I stated back, "okay, then I'll just get it started" to which they yelled across the cafeteria "I TOLD YOU I WOULD GET TO IT! CLEANING NEEDS TO BE DONE FIRST!!" I stated "okay, I'll be over here counting the money when you're ready." As I began counting the funds with the VP the Pres dumped money from a money bag onto what we had counted already and tossed the money bag onto the money. I had to then ask for the voting money. The PTO President gave me a bag of pennies. She confirmed, twice, the pennies and the coins in the register were all the voting money she had. The problem is myself & two other parents saw dollar bills in the voting jars. Those dollar bills are unaccounted for.
Okay, I am done. I apologize for the lengthy message. I feel a great deal of pressure to remedy this situation and I'm just not sure how to go about it correctly. If I had to act on this right now, I would present the facts to the board and request the PTO Pres step down. However, I have emotions tied to this and want to ensure part of my solution is not knee-jerk. For what it's worth, I'm currently writing new bylaws to present so we're not faced with this situation again. Thanks for any feedback!
