Q&A

CharterSchool General Fund---parents not being told where the money is going

I am on the verge of going to the school board with a few concerns. My school is constantly asking parents for money for different fundraisers..the problem is this money raised is placed into a "general fund" for the school and not associated with the PTO. The principal says this money is being spent on different things like...paper for the office..teachers CE classes. These fundraisers have been mentioned at our PTO meeting which makes me think the parents may be confused and think it is for the PTO. example: we are having a school event and 50% profit will go to PTO and 50% to the schools "general fund"...helppppp!!! Doesn't this seem abnormal?? What should I do??
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Well, "normal'' is a relative term, but, still, it seems like there are lots of fundraisers at your school and, not very clear explanations as to where the money goes. The PTO board should be able to make information available on what is being raised and how the money will be spent. It sounds like the school and PTO may be teaming up on fundraisers rather than having the PTO manage/run the fundraisers and then fund the equipment, programs, etc. for the school. That seems to be muddying the waters for you. Ask your PTO leaders to clarify how this works and, again, what funds have been raised by the PTO and how it plans to spend it. That should at least get a few questions cleared up.
- Rose H
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