Hello,
We are a new PTO. The charter school asked for a PTO to be set up and and we started this month (January 09). At first we were told that with our funds coming in we needed to set up a bank account with the Pres. and Tres. as signers and we must sign all checks. No problem, I understand that. The head of the district came in tonight and stated that the school will be setting up their own bank account and we must place all our funds into that account. When we need funds we must request a PO from the central office of the charter school. Is the right, legal, fair?? I did not think the finds should be mixed? The charter school at that location has been in busy for 5 years and has never had a bank accout nor a PTO. Now that there is a PTO and money will be coming in the school wants the money in their bank account. Please help, advise me on this issue. By the way we are in the state of Texas. Thank you!!!:confused:

It sounds strange to me, but I'm not familiar with charter school rules (nor TX). One common theme you'll find here: you don't want to get on the wrong side of the administration, because they control access to the school.

I would suggest you check with other schools in the district, if they have PTOs.

Generally, PTOs are independent entities: they are incorporated, obtain tax exempt status from the IRS, have their own bank accounts, run their own budget, etc.

There are other groups, often called Parent-Teacher committees on these message boards, that are run by the school, and their funds are put into the school account. Then the school/administration takes responsibility for all the accounting. Sometimes this relieves the parents of the burden of accounting; sometimes it means the parents don't get as much say in where their money goes.

They want the PTO simply to be the fundraising arm for the school but to have little to no decision making authorization on how those funds are used. Having to request funds each and every time to pay expenses or to benefit the students with the fruits of your labors would be a beaurocratic nightmare (IMHO). A consultative relationship between the PTO and the school administration based on mutual respect where the PTO has total access to the funds they've raised would be a much more effective (not to mention, more common) arrangement.

Keep researching. If, after you've gathered all the info you can, this is how it's going to be at your school, I (personally) wouldn't be interested in helping to develop that particular board. My fear would be having to work with some power-hungry district administrator who rejects/alters requests unilaterally and/or who creates a bottleneck situation that threatens being able to carry out your fundraising plans in a timely manner. And, if the PTO raises funds for a specific purpose but is prevented from following through by the administration through no fault of their own, a huge breach of trust with the parents has been created which will hamper future efforts.