I fully understand the fund raising situation at the different grade levels. We have 1 preschool, 15 elementary, 3 middle and 1 highschool. Each being a separate unit in our PTA Council. We have found that it is the middle schools that suffer the most. The high school has approximately 2,000 students. They only hold 4 meetings a year and hold a "painless project" fundraiser with their membership drive. Families are asked to donate the money they would spend on the cost of sending in baked goods or supporting a fundraiser. $10.00 is mentioned as a possibility. They have had quite a bit of success. The high school does not need the money as it is true, there are at least 15 other school organizations doing fundraisers at that level. But the donations afford a staff appreciation event and a few other things, like the National Reflections Program. The four meetings still enable parents to be advocates for their students by hearing from the Principal, finding out the latest legislation that affects our schools and children, along with Health, Welfare and Safety Issues. PTA is big on Advocacy so you really need to decide what type parent organization people want to be involved in. The superintendant really cannot dictate what you do he may decide to lobby the parents for it, but that would be about it.

We are a small town wide Pto. The elementary school makes the most money while the high school makes none. All money goes into 1 account and we give it out as requested. No 1 school has "hogged" any money. There is 1 elementary, 1 middle and 1 high school in this town with many parents having children in all 3 schools. The new superintendent now wants us to be part of a national organization (PTA) and have individual PTOs for each school. While it may work at the elementary level, it absolutely will not work at the high school level with fund raising. It is not a wealthy town and parents are tapped out. I am afraid if we have seperate PTOs, programs like drama, speech, robotics and other high school programs will suffer. They already do fundraising but it is not always enough. Does the Superintendent have jurisdiction over us? The building principals and teachers have been very happy and appreciative of how it has been. What can we do???????