I don't agree about telling the principal. The principal is not in charge here. Contacting the PTA council was a good first step, but then they should be able to guide you toward a resolution to this problem. This is ultimately their problem, too, if you are a PTA.

For us, I think the proper approach would be

1. Copy all the members of the board when I contact the treasurer. Ask for a response by a certain date.
2. If I don't get a response, then I would set another deadline with the condition that if I don't receive a response by then, I am going to call a special meeting to discuss whether or not to remove the treasurer from their position.
3. If I don't get a response, call the meeting.

For us, I could not go to the bank and just remove the treasurer myself. We have to have two people sign checks, and I as president, am not one of them. We currently have three people who are able to sign checks. So 2 out of 3 would go to the bank, along with the secretary or the president, to request a change in signers.

I would contact your bank immediately and say your treasurer is not responding to inquiries and you feel the need to protect your group's assets. Ask them to freeze the account, and ask what their policies are on removing signatories from accounts involuntarily. AFTER the account is frozen and you know how to get the treasurer off of the account -- not before -- tell the treasurer what you have done and why, and that if you do not get replies to your financial inquiries you will have her removed from the account and seek her removal from office. (Your bylaws should give you a way to do this for any officer who fails to perform the duties of office, one of which for the treasurer had better involve making the books available for inspection.)

I'm sure that sounds harsh, but the behavior you report *looks* as though your treasurer is embezzling money from you, and you must protect the group's funds until the treasurer responds to your inquiries.

Wow, that is awful. I'm so sorry you are in this position. I am no expert but I felt bad when I saw there were no replies yet and I wanted to give you a virtual hug. ()

What is your working relationship with the school principal? Hopefully good. You will have to tell him or her in very objective language, in writing, exactly what did not get done last year and what the council requires from you, and how your fundraiser hangs in the balance because of last year's inaction. I wouldn't include things about her personally like not returning your emails, just the actual treasurer duties that have not been done, because you don't want to sound petty, just professional.

If you cc'd or forwarded the treasurer all of the emails from the council so that she could have responded directly to them and you can produce copies of the emails, then you should do that, too. Otherwise she may try to say that you never passed the information on to her because it will be your word against hers. You should also solicit other people whom she did not respond to, and get a email from them stating that the treasurer did not respond to their request.

I hope your principal is strong and demands a meeting with the treasurer and presents her with two choices: get the work done correctly, or resign and turn over all information immediately. If this doesn't happen, I hate to say it, but your reputation would then be in jeopardy if you stay on in the midst of this bad situation. Your principal needs to know that you will resign if this does not get resolved.

If the treasurer does leave, maybe the VP can do the work temporarily since it sounds like she knows what to do. Then you can have another emergency election, maybe? Depends on your bylaws.

Above all, try not to talk about the treasurer at all, even to friends. The less you say, the better you look. Just keep gathering evidence that she is not capable of doing the job and present it in a calm manner.

Good luck!

I urgently need some help.

I became president of our elementary PTA about a month ago after more than 50% of the board abruptly resigned. I am now beginning to see why....

Our treasurer refuses to do anything, won't answer the phone, doesn't return calls, and only answers emails if they are on a topic she wants to speak on (so she is all over everyone else's programs, but won't reply to my email asking for something financial that was sent at precisely the same time).

Since taking office I've realised the outgoing treasurer never filed the 990 and didn't perform a financial reconciliation. I know the only reason we have an approved budget is because the 1st VP spent 2 days at this lady's house basically doing it for her. (The budget in itself is a nonsense as it doesn't balance and there are several vital line items totally missing).

Now the local council of PTA's is all over*me* because we don't have several things that we should have already filed with them - including the budget, 990 and financial reconciliation. We are no longer allowed to make any financial transactions until this is resolved - a huge problem, as our first fundraiser is only 3 weeks away.

I spent 2 hours on the phone last Monday asking the council for help. One of their officers has said she will come and meet wth our treasurer at a time and place of the treasurer's choosing, and bascially walk her through completing these items. All she has to do, is call to arrange it. It's now Sunday, and despite my having emailed and called the treasurer every single day this week to remind and encourage them, guess what - the council officer just emailed me to say she never received a call.

I'm at a loss. As president I cannot be involved with these items even if I knew how. If I ask this person to resign, we run the risk that they will either sabotage or refuse to turn over our records. We also don't have anyone to take over the role. Anyone have any great ideas before I lose my mind?