PTO Today

Two quickies that will be of great interest if you’re affected and not so much interest if you are not.

1. Peanut Butter scare hits clients of Sweet Success fundraising (including several California schools), as some fundraising cookie dough tubs are recalled.

2. Hearing that Varsity Gold fundraising, a pretty big group especially with high schools, has filed for Chapter 11.  The question on our message boards (in some fairly heated exchanges between insiders and anonymous posters (likely competitors) is what happens next. 

Over the ten years, we’ve been tracking PTO and PTA embezzle stories, two things have been true:  1) they just don’t seem to ever go completely away; and 2) there have been several periods where the volume seems to pick up markedly.  Sadly, I think we’re in one of those up-cycles now.  (Guess we should call it a down-cycle.

Here’s a bunch more:

Massachusetts town uncovers 4 cases.

Illinois HSA victimized.

As always, here’s our feature on preventing theft in your PTO or PTA group.  These basics steps are worthwhile. Please.

Leave it to the local news station to blow this up into some Watergate-level cover-up, but I think this media treatment of a school theft case is great evidence for my argument that groups should address these issues openly (and obviously enact systems changes immediately) if there’s a missing money issue.  This principal is far from alone in advocating a hush-hush treatment, but 1) these things almost always come out eventually (school communities aren’t widely known for a lack of rumors); and 2) groups and schools get far more credit and have far fewer problems when the issues are addressed profesionally and openly.

The media may have covered the story anyway, but the headline would have been about the poor PTO as victim and the lout who stole the money.  Instead, the story focuses on the principal and paints an unflattering picture of the school.

Worth re-linking to our “Financial Best Practices for PTOs” to help the next group avoid this issue altogether. Also hope these guys have PTO insurance to cover this kind of loss.

This stinks. This group saved for years for a new school sign, paid a (too) large deposit, and now the sign company is gone. Poof.

My read: yes,l I realize the local vendor was only a franchisee of the national Sign-a-Rama chain, but that parent company needs to do the right thing here. There is a connection.

Better news: we have some great, reputable school sign vendors in our School Signs yellow pages.

Few details at this point, but former volunteer under arrest in $40,000 theft. Hope these guys have insurance.

Sentencing comes through for former PTA treasurer convicted of stealing $180,000 (yes — nearly 200 grand!) from her group over 5 year period. Appreciate the fact that other officers and school parents prosecuted and advocated for harsh sentencing. However, looks like the sentence will be one year of home confinement.

There are so many basic tips for solid money management for your PTO or PTA, but here’s one straight from the article: don’t have bank statements mailed directly to treasurer’s home. No way!

Is your group protecting its funds?

Have to give credit to Tennessee authorities for listening and responding to feedback about the 2007 “school support” regulations that came down last year.

Effective July 1, 2008, several clarifications and improvements have been made (Tennessee regs summarized here). The end result: common sense (and parent groupos and kids around the state) win!

In a nutshell, a needed distinction has been made between school funds and school events and parent group funds and parent group events. Parent groups aren’t required to be 501(c)(3)s and funds are not required to be run through the district. Financial best practices still encouraged. Nice.

Wow — $65k is definitely one of the biggest embezzles we’ve seen. This one from a middle school PTA treasurer in California.

Of course, our embezzle blog posts wouldn’t be complete without our plea: please use common sense, basic financial controls.

Had to figure this would happen. School Committee in Massachusetts in hot water after using the PTO-funded emergency phone system to blast a pro-budget override message to all school families.

Several issues: 1) non-profits not allowed to advocate for a certain vote; and 2) Massachusetts election laws may also have been violated.

Technology — these phone trees and email solutions like our PTO Manager tool — is going to make this kind of thing even more tempting. Important that we use it well.

The hits keep coming… and the need for putting common-sense financial controls in place remains as well as the need for the smart investment in parent group insurance.  It’s part of our leadership job to protect these funds.  C’mon folks… you can do this.  Don’t wait. 

Here’s one of our first cases with video.  A Kansas City man (and former PTA president) is confronted by a TV reporter about allegations of a $10,000 theft.  The frustrating fact here? This man was the successor to another leader who stole. Ugh.

And some more embezzle stories:  Maryland PTA treasurer takes $25,000 from her group as part of a larger, $185,000 conviction.  Here, it’s nearly $9,000 missing from an Iowa PTA.

Man, I hope that’s it for the month.