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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to be the only person concerned that the PTA treasurer seems to have gone missing....

583 replies

PTAmissing · 16/05/2016 07:06

With all the PTA money?

She's been treasurer for years, no children at the school anymore.

She usually attends roughly 1 of every 4 meetings. She hasn't been to one for 6 months. She won't answer the phone or the door, doesn't reply to emails or texts. Chair went to her house and she didn't answer the door although it looked like she was in. We have no access to the money or accounts and the school is lending us money to get back off her at some indeterminate time in the future.

We have the school fate soon and she has all the info on stalls etc not to mention the money we need to buy things! She owes one of the parents about £50 for things they bought from their company for the PTA xmas fate.

Nobody else seems concerned! I really got angry about it at the last meeting and said this is ridiculous, we have no idea how much is in the account, we can't get hold of her, we have no working float. Apparently she has family drama at the moment and thats why she's unavailable but she still wants to be treasurer. I raised the possibility that there could be something dodgy going on and got shut down by the chair who said its not possible as there are two signatories on the account (because she couldn't just forge a signature???)

AIBU to think they should be taking this a bit more seriously given there is over £7000 (at the last count) of money that has been donated by the parents fgs, not to just sit in an account that nobody can get into?!

OP posts:
EatShitDerek · 16/05/2016 07:08

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

RebootYourEngine · 16/05/2016 07:10

I would be thinking about calling the police because something dodgy is going on.

Greaterthanthesumoftheparts · 16/05/2016 07:11

Similar happened at my sisters school, and it turns out the treasurer had stolen the money. They then had a lot of drama with the charities commission since she also hadn't filed the accounts either, their charity status was revoked for a short while and they couldn't do anything. This is really serious and you're right to be concerned. Were you concerns minutes at the last meeting? If not I would suggest that the chair calls an emergency meeting, summons the treasurer (in the nicest possible way) and informs her that you need someone to do this very important role reliably until her family issues are dealt with. Oh and inform the new treasurer they are expired to attend all meetings unless there is an emergency!

handmademitlove · 16/05/2016 07:11

Get one of the other signatories to go and get an up to date statement from the bank if you are worried.

chewingawasp · 16/05/2016 07:12

I would be very concerned (former PTA treasurer). Where do the bank statements go? Can the other signatory request copies? When were the last annual accounts completed?

Greaterthanthesumoftheparts · 16/05/2016 07:12

Oh and the two signatures thing is a red herring. If the treasurer is responsible for paying in the money after events there is plenty of time for it to go missing before a signature is even required!

redexpat · 16/05/2016 07:13

YANBU! It could be something, it could be nothing. I'd give her a deadline to make contact and then call the police if she doesn't.

chewingawasp · 16/05/2016 07:14

You can view accounts online at the Charity Commission website. That will show when they were last submitted and what balances were recorded.

Eastpoint · 16/05/2016 07:14

I think the Chair of the PTA needs to let the Chair of the Governors know. She needs to take a leave of absence if she will not resign (might be easiest to present it that way first) and then someone responsible can take over. I would be very reluctant to let her assume a position of responsibility again if I was the chair. Can the Chair add someone (clerk to school?) to the list of signatories? I know the banks can be very awkward & that our equivalent treasurer claimed compensation from our bank recently (nearly £500 over changing signatory etc).

Wheresthattomoibabber · 16/05/2016 07:16

Have you checked the bank balance?

Original poster
PTAmissing · 16/05/2016 07:17

Yes I made sure they were minuted, although it just says discussion held by X regarding lack of contact with Y Hmm

She has all the statements, accounts, access etc

I've got a feeling this is all going to go horribly wrong but nobody else is even considering that possibility

OP posts:
Original poster
PTAmissing · 16/05/2016 07:19

Nobody knows what the balance is, apparently she audits the accounts (not sure how she can audit her own accounts?!)

Chair is still creeping around her. I grabbed her in the playground last week and she said she would email and text her again to tell her to get in contact by the end of the week.

Headteacher is the other signatory

OP posts:
Original poster
PTAmissing · 16/05/2016 07:22

Doesn't even seem to be registered with the charity commission...!

OP posts:
ophiotaurus · 16/05/2016 07:23

Is the headteacher aware of what's going on?

Only1scoop · 16/05/2016 07:25

Refer to head

Get account balance etc

bakeoffcake · 16/05/2016 07:26

I'd have a quiet word with the chair saying you are considering resigning because of the lack of concern about the non communication
disappearance of the treasurer. You will also be informing the goveners about your reasons.
That should kick them up the backside and if it doesn't then at least you will have left when the shit hits the fan!

Baconyum · 16/05/2016 07:26

Oh wow!

I was squeezed out of a charity group I was involved in (accused of some awful things). This happened after I started questioning some oddities with the treasurer. Long story short they'd embezzled over £10k!

I bumped into someone else involved in the group some months after it came to light and was apologised to.

Definitely pursue this.

bakeoffcake · 16/05/2016 07:27

Oh, if the head is the other signatory I'd go and see them.

LunaLoveg00d · 16/05/2016 07:27

You can view accounts online at the Charity Commission website. That will show when they were last submitted and what balances were recorded If the OP is in Scotland there won't be a Chair of Governers either.

Not all PTAs are charities. We're not - doesn't mean we're dodgy. We do have accounts audited and they are available to anyone who wants to see them though.

Few things - check your constitution to see what it says about being a member. Ours says something like "all parents of children and teachers at X school are members". So if this person's children have left, she shouldn't be a member any more.

When is your AGM? I would be strongly suggesting to the other people who go to meetings that you need a treasurer who can attend more regularly and update on the financial situation and that things are not running efficiently at the moment. Our Treasurer can't come to every meeting as she works full time, but if she can't she always emails one of the co-Chairs with a quick update on the financial position.

The PTA chair needs to deal with this - that's part of their job. Speak to the chair on a one to one basis, express your concerns and suggest solutions. (Remembering that it's often very hard to get people to volunteer for anything, and Treasurer in my experience is a "scary" job that people are reluctant to take on).

I wouldn't automatically leap to the assumption that there's fraud going on.

Fyaral · 16/05/2016 07:28

Yes refer to the Head.

LindyHemming · 16/05/2016 07:32

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

PotteringAlong · 16/05/2016 07:36

Go to see the head. And then go to the police

Original poster
PTAmissing · 16/05/2016 07:39

Head is a member of the PTA and fully aware of the situation!

She's been our treasurer for 10+ years and due to her job (financial institution) nobody seems to be considering anything untoward

OP posts:
Original poster
PTAmissing · 16/05/2016 07:40

She came to the last AGM and gave a print out of accounts that she had done herself.

OP posts:
LunaLoveg00d · 16/05/2016 07:41

Police is WAY over the top. No evidence of any "crime" whatsoever.