my childs schools fundraisers have earned over 20,000 dollars, they say it will fund certain thing but dont?

Question

playground equ. ? fieldtrips ? ..... yet I had to pay 10 when they went to pumpkin farm.And when they said they're funding dr.suess day book exchange my daughter had to bring in new or slightly used book to et one herself .I could go on there are more upsetting issues as well.What can be done as far as a investigation?

Answer 1

As others have said, be an active part of the PTO, and pay attention to the Treasurer's Report. $20,000 is a LOT of money, and, depending on the size of the school, number of classrooms, etc, that should be being used to offset some fees for field trips and the like. At the next PTO meeting, ask for an up-to-date accounting of all deposits from fund-raisers, as well as disbursements. Get your daughter's classmates' parents involved, too, so if the PTO is being poorly run, you'll have the strength of many voices to make a change. If you have concerns about where the money is going (and believe me, it DOES get stolen) let the school superintendent know.

Answer 2

As "whatever" said, you can choose where your money goes by contributing to specific things, but don't be surprised if there are still costs or projects that go unfunded. Keep in mind that most schools' tuition DOES NOT COVER OPERATING EXPENSES. So, they have to raise a certain amount of money just to break even. Why? This enables people who have extra money to give to give it, and get a tax deduction, while still allowing people who might not have enough to cover a "full price" tuition to come to the school.

There probably isn't much to investigate, but you can join the PTA or volunteer in your child's classroom. Volunteering at the school also helps free up some of the money you donated. If parents volunteer and take over the duties of putting away library books, maybe the money they were spending on the assistant librarian can go for your playground equipment or field trips. Another option would be to find out if your child's teachers have a "wishlist" of things they want for their classroom, from books to markers to paper, etc.

As far as the pumpkin farm field trip goes, $10 per child is not a lot considering the cost of bus rental, and the farm tour, let alone the teachers and chaperones' time (it is always more work to take kids on a field trip than to sit in a classroom with them -- you try taking thirty kids to the pumpkin farm and see if you don't want to charge all their parents $10, too!).
Most importantly, please be understanding of the school. They aren't a "for profit" institution, and most teachers' salaries are incredibly low. They are providing your child with the skills to succeed for the rest of her life -- you can give a little bit back to them, even if it is only in goodwill and appreciation.

Answer 3

Good question. Please start with the school dist. superintendent. Or, you could start with the school principal, with a copy of the letter to the superintendent. If that doesn't help, then the one way you could go, is to call the local media--news media--like a local newspaper, or the tv news in your area. If you go via the media, whichwever way you go with it, please ask for the reporter that handles items like this for the community, etc. I definitely would quesiton what they are doing with the money. That is not fair It used to be in the "good ol' days" that our tax dollars paid for everything for the schools, including playground equipment, etc. Things are outragelessly price these days, but I still quesiton what they are doing. They should be open and up front with the community as to what the funds specifically are going for, and the date these things will be installed, etc. Take care.

Answer 4

"things" are expensive, so know your stuff before you start throwing accusations.

Maybe you had to pay $10 to go go the pumpkin farm, but what was the total cost?
busses could have been $1000
admission to the farm was probably not free
lunches?
substitutes?

Go to the meetings, learn, help, get involved. It's very easy to sit in the balcony and heckle, but to get your hands dirty is a whole nother thing.

Answer 5

You can be sure of where your donation goes by deciding where you want to contribute. If you want it to buy library books, go directly to the school librarian and ask her/him how to be sure the money is spent specifically for library books. Teachers are often not able to choose how the general fundraiser money is spent either. To investigate you need to go to someone who is in no way related to access to the money. If it is a parent organization, then go to the school board. If it is controlled by the adminstration , then go to a parent organization.

Answer 6

Are you on the PTA?
Get involved in school meetings.