calypso*a*go-go
<a href="http://www.wdwinfo.com/dis-sponsor/" targ
- Joined
- Dec 30, 2003
- Messages
- 11,629
I am currently serving on the PTA board at my son's elementary school. There has been a motion within the group to change from a PTA to a PTO. The primary reasons given are the large portion of the membership fee that must be sent to the State PTA and also the fact that the money is used by the State PTA to lobby for and fund education programs that some of our members don't agree with (primarily sex education). It was also implicated that being a PTO would bring a more favorable response from our parents as everyone automatically "belongs" and would take more "ownership".
In order to make the switch, we need to have a general meeting in which everyone votes in favor of the PTO. We then have to disolve our PTA status. To do this, we need to spend all of the funds that were earned as a PTA as anything that is an asset would automatically go to the State PTA when we disolve. The other downside is that we would lose our 501c3 Non-Profit status and would have to hire an attorney to help us file the correct paperwork to apply again as a PTO. We were told this would take approx. $1000 and up to 18 months.
The people in favor of the switch are sugar-coating everything and making it sound like no big deal...I can't help but think it's more complicated than that.
Please give me your experience as well as any pros and cons on PTA vs. PTO. I want to make an informed decision when the time comes to vote (which will be very soon!).
Thanks
In order to make the switch, we need to have a general meeting in which everyone votes in favor of the PTO. We then have to disolve our PTA status. To do this, we need to spend all of the funds that were earned as a PTA as anything that is an asset would automatically go to the State PTA when we disolve. The other downside is that we would lose our 501c3 Non-Profit status and would have to hire an attorney to help us file the correct paperwork to apply again as a PTO. We were told this would take approx. $1000 and up to 18 months.
The people in favor of the switch are sugar-coating everything and making it sound like no big deal...I can't help but think it's more complicated than that.
Please give me your experience as well as any pros and cons on PTA vs. PTO. I want to make an informed decision when the time comes to vote (which will be very soon!).
Thanks
