We have to give all names, numbers of our officers at the end of the year as well- plus list activities.... we are not allowed to have district employees be treasurers as well-- We fall under our Districts umbrella--- and they oversee our bank account-- they do not have access to take money out, write checks from it or deposit or move funds from it-- but they do get a copy of our monthly statements-- and can see our PTO manager software-- this is protect them and us from anyone taking advantage and stealing from us---


We are asked to make a deposit at least once a week but the day doesn't matter... and they don't tell us what we can buy overall --- we have to save paperwork for 7 years back- we have original receipts for everything-- and a backup paper trail for deposits, checks written--- most of this sounds up and up- and matches our district policies-- but we've had theft from district employees in the past in the amount of thousands-- it wasn't from the PTO-- but I think they tried to put things in place to prevent anything from happening again.

Names and addresses of officers are supposed to be reported to our state because our PTO is a registered corporation.

I would ask them for the rationale behind the treasurer not being a district employee. There are some potentials for conflict of interest or possibility of theft. You might ask to have the district sit down with your officers and review the by-laws and the PTO's insurance guidelines. We have insurance that requires a monthly bank statement review and a yearly audit; it could be that you could assuage the district's concerns by pointing out the reviews you already have in place.

If my district asked for 10 years of records, I'd be happy to give them to the district to store, and get them out of my attic. I passed on the records for the elementary school to the new treasurer, and she was planning to keep them, but the PTO is thinking to amend the by-laws that say we are supposed to keep certain records in a "secure place" in the school office -- we never did get that from the school -- and instead keep the crucial ones on-line. The thought is that (a) people can find them more easily and (b) the district takes care of backing up the on-line content (we have a "folder" on the school's web site).

The IRS requires that your Form 990s be "open for public inspection" for a certain number of years; if someone asked you for the 990 from two years ago, would you be able to provide it?

Rundown of officers, local laws, charge id # ought to all be open data. The bank equalization should appear in on your Form 990 IRS return, in the "net stakes" box, and your returns should be open for open survey (accepting you're a 501c3 association). In this way, they're not requesting anything they shouldn't have the capacity to get.

Thanks for the reply: We are a 501.c.3 so yes our information is open for review. The district wants to implement rules like no district employees are to be the treasurer ( ours is a district emp. who works as a clerk at another school but is a mom to a student at our school).
Fill out an application to the district for them to approve our PTO. Give them names phone#'s and addresses of your officers.
Telling us when bank deposits are to be made. Keep records for 10 years for audit purposes.
To me it just seems like a lot to ask for a parent volunteer group that just wants to make sure the students get the things they need to make a better school.
Mike

What do you mean, they want your bank account? The account, or the account number, or the balance in it, or what?

List of officers, bylaws, tax id # should all be public information. The bank balance ought to show up in on your Form 990 IRS return, in the "net assets" box, and your returns are supposed to be open for public review (assuming you're a 501c3 organization). So, they're not asking for anything they shouldn't be able to get.