Did FCPS put an end to laundering money for school-sponsored activities through a PTA or booster group? I thought there was a FCPS regulation that required that school money be paid directly to the school. Anyone more familiar that could help me with the applicable regs? Our newish principal is afraid of the PTA moms so he lets them do whatever they want including collecting all fees and then giving him his portion.

FCPS robs the county budget of 52% of it's funding, then imposes socialist policies on the schools so that the ones with involved parents don't outperform the others.

And you want to complain that a PTA is working outside this corrupt system to better their school?

Fuck you.

Be thankful that you do not live in nutty California where they take away money from schools that have too many white kids.

http://abc7.com/education/race-based-school-budget-cuts-spark-outrage-in-noho/1818792/

They absolutely are supposed to be accounting for these funds in a school account IF it is a school-sponsored activity. I will post the regulation. The money is supposed to be deposited directly into the school activity funds, NOT done as a pass-through via a Booster or parent group. You lose the insurance and accountability when you do that. There are also serious privacy issues with student information being on personal computers and in personal files.

****You have to make certain the activity is actually school-sponsored. They tend to be very squishy on this. I will post information on that. If you sign school permission forms, if it occurs during the school day, if staff are used, if school letterhead is used, that is supposed to be school-sponsored. There are still things going on that the school system says aren't theirs but really are supposed to be and sometimes are but maybe not(?). These people get very confused. You need to nail them down.

There is no such thing as a co-sponsored activity. It is either school-sponsored or sponsored by someone else. Either the school assumes responsibility, or not. They try to fudge around with this. Don't let them.

If this is indeed a school sponsored activity, and they are breaking the rules and allowing the money to go through the parent group first, those records pertaining to this that are held by the parent group are public record, and you have the right to see those records via FOIA requests. The parents have to send them to the school system and then the school system will pass them on to you, with proper redactions. This has been well-established and tested many, many times. Division Counsel has had the Fear of God put in him, so hopefully he knows better by now. Don't put up with any crap from him or anybody else on this. If the records are supposed to be with the school system, they are public record, no matter who is creating them and where they are, and the school system HAS to produce them or you have the right to see them in court.

http://www.boarddocs.com/vsba/fairfax/Board.nsf/files/9PELVL583F70/$file/R5810.pdf

Here is the Bible.
If you read through this, you will see that money involving "activities of the school" (which is defined) is supposed to be accounted for in the school activity funds. You lose all required controls when it goes to a PTA or Booster club first. It is supposed to go DIRECTLY into a school account.

https://www.fcps.edu/about-fcps/policies-regulations-and-notices/virginia-freedom-information-act-vfoia

With the new website I am having trouble locating the Risk Management description of what is considered a school-sponsored activity. They have a form they can show you. Do a FOIA request and they can have it to you within a few days. It used to talk about co-sponsorship, which is a made-up term. They were still trying to come to terms with that a year or so ago. Fantasies die hard for them.

Basically, if you sign a school form, if anything is on letterhead, if it is during the school day, if staff are used, it is supposed to be school-sponsored.

What exactly are they collecting? Can you post copies of what you signed and the informational materials? The field trips are certainly problematic because true field trips are school sponsored.

It is naive to assume that Fairfax is going to bring all booster organizations and parents groups under their control. The same regulatory efforts that have given the schools greater fiscal and other control over some groups have caused other groups to opt for less formal affiliations with the schools, which has given them greater independence.

The parent groups are not under the control of the school system except to the extent that they have to follow all school regulations, which can be a very tall order for some of them. They have no fiscal control over them except to the extent that they are not supposed to be handling school funds in their bank accounts and they are not allowed to demand money from parents or children in order for the kids to take a class. They are not affiliated with the school system so there really is not any way to have a less formal affiliation with greater independence. They are independent and always have been as long as they have non-profit status and are running their money through their own bank accounts. If they start having the kids do fundraising for them then things get stickier.

If the parent groups are not independently organized, and the monies are kept in a school account, and a teacher is basically running the group, then that is different.

It got to the point where the parents thought they were running some of the class programs and forgot what their role was and overstepped their boundaries. The school system had to re-learn how to be teachers and administrators. Some are still not doing too well at this.

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http://www.boarddocs.com/vsba/fairfax/Board.nsf/files/AK3SVH6D4C96/$file/R5790.pdf

Here is information on field trips. If you sign a school permission form, it is a school-sponsored trip. If a teacher is leading the trip in their official capacity, if it occurs during the school day, it is SUPPOSED to be a school-sponsored trip.

The money is supposed to run through school accounts as per reg 5810. The principal/school system is responsible for the money.

http://www.boarddocs.com/vsba/fairfax/Board.nsf/files/8VTGQE44E4F6/$file/R5922.pdf

Here is the information on student fees. Only the school system can charge a fee and it has to comply with state laws pertaining to fees. Any money that a parent group "wants" can only be "asked" for and is entirely optional and must be presented as such.

All fees are to be accounted for in the school records and proper procedures for money collection are supposed to be followed.

Still?? Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Did FCPS put an end to laundering money for
> school-sponsored activities through a PTA or
> booster group? I thought there was a FCPS
> regulation that required that school money be paid
> directly to the school. Anyone more familiar that
> could help me with the applicable regs? Our
> newish principal is afraid of the PTA moms so he
> lets them do whatever they want including
> collecting all fees and then giving him his
> portion.

There should not be "their portion" and "his portion". Class dues and field trip costs are supposed to be presented to break even. At cost. No profit. The PTA can't charge for anything like that. They can only beg.

Thank you. I provided the regs to the principal (who acted shocked) and the PTA collection was stopped. Don't know if the principal is an idiot or wasn't given all the info he needs to do his job. He did say it was easier for the PTA to do the collecting and organizing so his staff didn't have to. Thanks again.

Original poster Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Thank you. I provided the regs to the principal
> (who acted shocked) and the PTA collection was
> stopped. Don't know if the principal is an idiot
> or wasn't given all the info he needs to do his
> job. He did say it was easier for the PTA to do
> the collecting and organizing so his staff didn't
> have to. Thanks again.


Oh this is special.

The principal should not have been shocked. They are required to know and follow all of their regulations and policies. The 5810 is very clear. So is the field trip reg.

The principal could very well be an idiot. That disease is rampant in the educational field.

The principal was given all information they needed to do their job. They all had special training on the new 5810. Some just choose to ignore their responsibilities in spite of the training they had. The School Board could care less and does absolutely nothing to hold the staff accountable.

You did not provide much information on what exactly the parents were collecting. There is no such thing as class dues. There is a class fee that is set aside for graduation, cap and gown, and some other things. The school system determines the amount and has to collect it. The field trip money (if this is a true school-sponsored field trip) is also supposed to be collected by the school system.

If the parents are asking for "class dues", etc. for things they want to do to help out the school system, that is illegal UNLESS it is presented as entirely voluntary/optional. This is very important. Some of these groups were in quite the habit of hitting parents up for hundreds of dollars of "mandatory donations". That is bullcrap and you need to watch out for that.

A lot of principals were allowing parents to collect all kinds of stuff for many years. They were letting parents plan field trips, sign contracts for things, etc. etc. Of course it saved them a lot of work. They had no right to do any of this!!!!!!! Those funds were public funds and volunteers do not have the right to contract for usage of those funds. They also were not properly insured to do this. The officer liability policies frequently don't cover them for this type of money and work because they are doing something to help out school personnel. Many times the volunteer policies were not well-managed. The parents didn't have policies, or they let them lapse, they were not big enough to cover losses, they might not have covered government funds, agreements with the school system, etc. Some groups were not doing audits or reviews, or presenting bank statements for review, which negated the policies. So, the parents were turning over vast sums of money (some of these groups were managing a million dollars a year) to these groups for what were technically school issues, thinking they were insured, when they were not. All that money was at risk. ALL OF IT. I know of one group who never did a review or audit in 25 years, told the parents they were doing them, and was funneling millions of dollars over the years through their accounts. Those officers put their homes on the line, put thousands of families at unbelievable risk, etc. etc. Some of this is probably still going on. The principals loved having somebody else do their work and could have cared less about the parents.

The principals have money to bring in hourly finance tech support. It comes out of the same pot that they use to take themselves out to lunch and dinner, order out for breakfast for 300 staff, plan overnight hotel "retreats", etc. They need to quit doing this stuff and start paying more attention to their bank accounts. These people really like to party on the county.

The advantage of making the school system directly control the money is that they have massive self-insurance and commercial policies. If there is a loss, you will get your money pronto. Compare that to trying to get a $1000 trip fee from a Booster club that just got robbed blind, hadn't done an audit in years, etc.

You have the right to see all student payment spreadsheets, all contracts, all bank account statements, all accounting data, etc. etc. on any money you turn in to the school system. If some principal is still allowing this stuff to run through a parent group, they have to get the records from the parent group and present them to you, before the School Board hopefully cans their ass, which of course they won't.

Live and learn, and watch every dollar you turn in to these schools and these parent groups. Ask questions. You really should not have to turn anything in to a parent group unless you want to, but you need to understand the risks. Look up Navy Elementary PTA Embezzlement some time. Litsa took off with some major money and of course they will never get it back. Google Booster club fraud/embezzlement. These groups mean well but these people are many times nothing more than eager volunteers with no professional training. If you give money to the school and it disappears, they will find the funds to replace it fairly quickly.