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Frequently Asked
Questions:
| President |
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| Finance and Treasurer |
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Q:
Is it OK for high school students to man the cash register at the
Book Fair during an evening parent event?
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A: It is NOT a good idea to have
high school students
running a cash register at a PTA event. They can help with the customer flow
and restocking or bagging. It's a big difference between a potential $100.00
plus book sale and a $1.00 brownie at the bake sale. The same goes for
letting Grandma or Uncle Bob come and help out unless they're a member of
your PTA. If something bad happened and you needed to file an
insurance claim over missing money, the insurance won't pay if they deem you
to be negligent by letting non-PTA members handle money. |
Q: Who can count money at the end of an
PTA event?
| A: People tend
to find whoever is left at the end of the night to help count money. Money
has to be counted by at least two PTA members who technically should be
executive board members. Whether that is the treasurer and the book fair
chair or two chair people who aren't part of that committee it doesn't
matter but they do have to be verified PTA members. |
Q: My Principal wants us to pay for staff
/ textbooks / PE equipment. Is this allowed?
| A: PTA
units should not be paying for staff, however many units have been
providing for some of the support staff that the school district can no
longer provide. Unfortunately this can create problems down the road.
Each PTA should be self sufficient within the school year, and not
maintaining expenses between school years – thus salaries are a problem.
In addition, it should never be noted as salary; instead the money
should be allocated into the program (i.e. music or art program). The
membership should be voting on what can and cannot be covered by the
PTA. Keep in mind that as PTAs we should be supporting all of the
students, and providing programs for them. Programs should address the
needs of all students, or be broken out into different
groups. |
Q: Are donations to the PTA tax
deductible?
| A: Yes,
provided there are no goods or services received by the payee. For
instance, PTA membership does not offer any specific benefits in most
schools that non-PTA members do not have access to, so membership fees
are considered tax deductible. Purchasing t-shirts, gift wrap, or
other items is NOT tax deductible. Buy-Out programs ARE tax
deductible. |
Q: Should PTA be paying for transportation
of students to another school for orientation?
| A: This came up last year when the
Middle Schools were asked to help offset the transportation costs
for incoming 6th graders, as well as for the promoting 8th
graders going to the High School. It was felt that the current
school PTA should be asked to help, rather than the future school,
as students may very well not attend that school the following year.
Whilst the financial issues are understood, the school and the PTA
should look at all alternatives, including asking parents to help
pay. |
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| Secretary |
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Q:
Does the PTA need to purchase the Bound
Treasurer and Secretary Books, or can they use a dedicated notebook?
| A:
The Secretary’s
Minutes should be kept in a BOUND book. This does not need to be the
official PTA version, but it cannot be a spiral bound notebook. Minutes
are either recorded directly into the book, or typed and glued in to the
pages. Corrections to the minutes should be noted in RED Pen directly onto
the minutes being corrected, as well as being noted in the following
minutes. |
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| Parliamentarian |
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Q: Can anyone attend my Executive Board
Meetings?
| A: Toolkit
section 2.3.1 Executive Board heading paragraph 4 (page 43 in the 2009
Toolkit):
NO. Executive board meetings and minutes are
confidential and attendance is limited to those individuals specifically
listed in the bylaws. The president may grant a courtesy seat to a guest
for the purpose of bringing information to be shared with the group.
Guests do not participate in discussion or voting and should leave the
meeting after the information is relayed.
You current bylaws (state approved 8/09) state your executive board
consists of: president, executive vice president, 2 vice presidents,
secretary, treasurer, financial secretary, auditor, historian,
parliamentarian, principal, teacher rep and the chairmen of your standing
committees.
It is the same rule as if you were attending a
school board or city council meeting. They have a closed session in which
they may ask a bidder on a contract or an employee to attend but they then
leave before voting takes place. Anyone may attend the general session and
receive permission to speak as long as procedure is followed.
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| Historian |
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| Communication |
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1.
Q: What is the best way to send out emails to parents?
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A:
Sending
out emails to as many parents at school as possible is a great way to
maintain contact, advise on school events, and solicit volunteers.
The following are some suggestions to help set up and maintain this
program:
1) When
setting up an email list, use Excel spreadsheet so that you can sort the
email addresses alphabetically. It is recommended that you keep the
information to email address, name and phone number (3 columns at most)
otherwise you’ll get overwhelmed.
2) Use
BCC (Blind Carbon Copy) to send out emails ONLY! Subscribers
will be reluctant to give our their email if they think everyone can see
their email address – we’ve all received those emails that list dozens of
other addresses, and all it takes is one person to use that information to
send out spam or other unsolicited emails, and you will lose everyone on
your list. Also, if someone responds and accidentally hits “reply all” it
won’t send out emails to everyone else. This is a very important courtesy
to maintain loyalty.
3)
Always identify the email in the subject line clearly (i.e. “School name
PTA Update – month year”). In this day of Spam people won’t open it if
they don’t know what it is.
4) Be
considerate. People do not need to be bombarded with dozens of emails
every other day. A monthly update, briefly listing what is happening at
school, or what help you need, is usually more than sufficient. Try and
keep it succinct and clear. Parents usually want to know just the “who,
what, where, when”. If something urgent comes up, which can happen once or
twice a year, you can send out a quick note, and your parents will be more
accepting.
5) Due
to Spam control, most email packages cannot send out an email to a large
list of people. Reduce the email list to about 75 addresses at a time.
This can be done easily by opening the Excel spreadsheet, and copy paste
75 at a time.
6)
Always give parents the reminder that they can unsubscribe – perhaps their
child has moved to another school, or left the District. Acknowledge their
email and make sure they have been deleted.
7) Make
sure the email list is used! If parents sign up and then never receive an
email from the PTA they are more likely to be very dismissive of the PTA
at your school.
8)
Emails obviously won’t be an option for every parent. Use the email system
mainly as an added benefit to parents who sign up, and treat it with
respect. |
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| From CAPTA |
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Q: How many fund raisers
are allowed annually?
| A:
When
planning the year's activities, PTAs should use the 3-to-1 rule. For every
fund raising activity, there should be at least three non fund raising
projects aimed at helping parents or children or advocating for school
improvements. All funds raised must be in the context of the Mission and
the Objects of PTA. |
Q: What is considered a "program"?
| A: An activity that brings in money can
still be considered a Program if it is directly putting money back into
the school (i.e. a Book Fair is a Program if books are being given to
individual classrooms through a grant or other allowance). |
Q: If the school has an activity not
sponsored by the PTA, can the PTA collect the funds and write checks for the
activity on behalf of the school?
| A:
NO. This is called commingling of funds and is illegal. The PTA
can help facilitate the activity but all funds must be deposited into the
school account. All income must be reported on an annual financial report
and if required, must also be reported on tax filings. |
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