I have been watching this thread and the White Oaks thread. It seems like there are a lot of people on both sides of the fence with this. If anybody decides to go to the meeting mentioned above (or approach a staff member) and discuss this, here is some stuff to read. I think this can be discussed with the respect that the PTA/PTO groups and staff deserve. They work very hard. Mad as some of you are, screaming at and belittling any of these people is inappropriate. I am reasonably familiar with the school regulations due to another project I was involved in. I can't make the meeting.
The first thing to remember, ALL FUNDRAISERS IN PUBLIC SCHOOL, NO MATTER WHO THE SPONSOR IS, ARE OPTIONAL. You have many years to go. Don't ever forget that. It gets very hot in the high school years. KNOW YOUR RIGHTS. This also applies to donations to Booster groups that support classes. You don't have to give them anything you don't want to.
reg 5810- Page 9-Any revenue generated by a PTA, co-sponsored, or Booster club event that involves student participation is supposed to be receipted into the School Activity funds. This is a brand new regulation effective this Fall. Before, the old one gave the principal the option, which conflicted with the 1370.
Reg 1370.6-(from 2008) Page 2 If the non-school-sponsored fund-raising activity involves student participation OR the principal determines that funds must be receipted into the School Activity fund records (which the 5810 mandates) then ALL provisions of this regulation are applicable. This is where it gets sticky. It looks like the contract requirements might only apply to school-sponsored fundraisers. Hard to say, because the other paragraph says ALL provisions of this regulation are applicable. Page 4-F.1.-Group competition that puts pressure on individuals to participate is prohibited (which the publicly presented toy prizes and class challenges could be construed as). I think they need to revise this regulation.
Page 2 VIIB. No student shall otherwise be excused from a scheduled class for the purpose of planning or participating in a fund-raising activity. But, the first sentence talks about school-sponsored fund-raising activities.
page3 C. 3. If the fund-raising activity is being conducted by the school or a SCHOOL-SPONSORED organization (is PTA school sponsored? I think they are talking about a school club), the school shall maintain a record of all sales, and all receipts shall be accounted for in the school activity fund account. At the completion of the fund-raising activity, a payment shall be made to the vendor, less the profit due to the school.
Now, you need to look at the issue of sponsorship. Attached is an updated publication from Risk Management that helps to clarify sponsorship. Generally, if something is during the school day, uses school staff, etc., it is supposed to be sponsored by the school. I don't understand the issue of co-sponsorship. It seems to be like being a little bit pregnant. Somebody has to be the sponsor and have the control of the contract and hold the liability. And if money is running into a school account (because students are involved), I personally think the contracts and receipts should be with the money, which means the events should be school-sponsored. That makes the whole thing easily accessible via FOIA. This also relieves the parents from the pressures of reviewing contracts and assuming liability. The school system has a whole department and legal team to do that, which we pay for. It seems to me that if children were being taken out of class, recess was being cut into, and the run was being done during the school day, the SCHOOL should have had the control over the contract. They hold the liability for anything during the school day for the most part anyway. I know PTA and the schools have a little different relationship than they do with Boosters. However, the principal does not have access to their bank accounts, right? So, they are indeed separate from the school system. I think the parent groups might have been signing the contracts. How can they obligate children during the school day and obligate these professional fundraisers to enter classrooms and deal with the children and assume the liability for all that? They are volunteers. Obviously the school system is also actively involved with allowing these people access to the children and the building.
The school system is looking closely at their relationships with parent groups. They have been working on a lot of issues for four years now. A lot of this information came out due to this. Have fun scratching your heads over all this.
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