AIBU to be raging at the "PTA"?

[mummyhaschangedhername]

I'm new to a PTA, so still figuring it out but I am raging and annoyed with how it's being handled.

So I joined the PTA about a year ago, we meet once a term and discuss ideas. It's very very small but I have managed to drag a few extras to join up. I have never met the chairs (apparently there are two, no idea why, not a vise chair just two chairs who have not attended the last year), we have a treasurer who Is a teacher who has only attended one meeting as she was on maternity leave and about to leave for maternity leave again and a secretary who does attend and take minute etc but is about to leave.

This treasurer/teacher seems to have taken upon herself the entire role of the PTA. The last meeting at the end of last term the treasurer took charge, called out her agenda, vetoed anyone else's opinions and ideas and just basically dictated what she wanted and how it was going to happen. I was stupid and said nothing. We had a meeting scheduled For first week of term and I asked several times for confirmation from the head and it didn't go ahead, then we get a list of dates of all the HSA events for the term included a sponsored walk by the PTA to raise money for a unnamed charity. I and others have asked several times a week for a meeting, explaining our concerns about how things are being organised without any of our consent or knowledge, including the spending of several thousand pounds of stuff without consulting with the PTA at all.

It's know just got announced that there is a PTA disco for Halloween with all the dates and details, no one on the HSA parents side is aware of this, and there was problems last time with the hall being over capacity and there needed to be a discussion on how to handle this this year, in addition seconds later we had a text saying that they had raised £3500 on the sponsored walk and funds would be donated as per HSA agreement.

1. Am I right to be raging?
2. What can I do about it?

I have made the head and deputy head aware of all of this and they have just scheduled a meeting but things are still happening without approval from the HSA.

Apologise for the spelling mistakes and length, rushing to post before the school run.

Well it seems to me that if The treasurer/teacher wants to run things single handedly you should let her!! Just back off and leave her to it. She’ll soon start jumping up and down when no one turns up to meetings or to help at events. Maybe then the school will take notice and start running it with a proper committee!

Go to the governors if you think they're spending money inappropriately?

Change meeting to once a month. Vote in a new chair. Start what's app group for PTA so can communicate more frequently.

Ideally imo fundraising needs to be planned in July for next academic year and needs to be minuted

They raised £3500 on a sponsored walk arranged single-handedly by the treasurer?

What's HSA?

That all sounds mad. You need a meeitng with the HT and the PTA chair. Why was money being raised for acharity, esp an unnamed one?

Money raised by the PTA is for the school.

There are legal implications to the running of the PTA. I would escalate your concerns to the governors.

See if you can find any useful guidance on this site www.nga.org.uk/Contact-us/General-contacts/National-Confederation-of-Parent-Teacher-Associati.aspx

I'm in Australia, we have P&C instead of PTA but it's effectively the same thing, and we are overseen by the P&C Federation. There are definite rules about how things should be run and how P&Cs are accountable, and I'm quite sure PTAs in the UK will have the same sort of thing.

I have to say that your PTA sounds like an absolutely farce and I agree that you should escalate this because who knows what is going on, and if you're on the PTA there's a possibility it could bite you on the arse if you DON'T look into/report it.

I know that I have legal responsibilities as an exec member of the P&C - quite sure that PTA exec positions have similar.

Is it registered at the Charity Commission? Most PTAs are, so you can then claim Gift Aid for certain things.

Have a look on their website. You should be able to find the constitutional documents, the charitable objects and who are the trustees. The charitable objects are usually something along the lines of raising money for the school - a sponsored walk to raise money for another charity is contrary to those objects.

Ask the teacher for the minutes of meetings and for a copy of the accounts.The treasurer should be updating the meeting on incoming and outgoings each meeting. If something dodgy is going on, or it lacks transparency, either you could wash your hands of it and refuse to have anything to do with it or keep up the dialogue with the head, and governors if necessary. It depends how involved you want to be really.

When you say the £3500 from the sponsored walk is being donated, where is it being donated? Back to the school or to a charity?

All funds raised by the PTA is for the benefit of the school (pupils/equipment/facilities/day trips/transportation to and from events for the pupils etc.). I'd be raising that one with the Governors/Board of Management.

In the UK, there is Parentkind which used to be PTA-UK.

www.parentkind.org.uk/

the governors don't normally have anything to do with a PTA. Its normally a separate organisation that is a registered charity with its own rules.

Can you find out how it was set up and if it is registered and that might help you work out what is going on.

What is hsa?
What you do depends on how involved you want to be I suppose. My preference would be to email someone (the treasurer and copy in the head?) outlining your concerns and saying until these issues are resolved you can no longer have any involvement.

The Governors have a say over anything that goes on in the school, including a malfunctioning PTA, and particularly if a teacher at the school is responsible.

If the treasurer is single handedly making 3500 on one event i’d leave them to it!

Newish PTA chair here (well actually HSA which means Home School Association for the PP who asked). Most PTAs are registered with the Charities Commission and their accounts etc should be available to you if you ask. They would need to have at a minimum an Annual General Meeting where committee post holders are nominated and voted in, and as far as I am aware the committee members do actually need to attend at least one meeting a year. I would also add that I think a teacher being a committee member might be a conflict of interest; certainly our school thought so.

Take a look at this
www.pta.co.uk/running-a-pta/managing-your-pta/agms-and-egms.aspx

for some background on the kinds of meetings the PTA should be holding, it sounds like you need to call an Emergency General Meeting. I am on my phone in a park at the moment, but I have a bunch of stuff about the requirements and responsibilities of a PTA at home, I will see if I have anything that might be relevant to you.

Usually there's some sort of vote for where the money goes but I've never heard of the PTA fundraising for charity. Usually that would be the school that's fundraising for charity. Are you sure it's the PTA funding that's going to charity?

The proceeds should go to the school as the parents are raising the money for the kids that attend the school.

2 chairs is becoming more common. The role of chair is quite intense.

I think you need to vote in a new chair if neither of them are turning up or leave the pta.

All very bizarre

What's the difference between the PTA and the HSA? Why do you have both?

When you say it's very small, how small is it? Are there representatives from each year group in the school?

New school governor here, if you have concerns about the money raised and the spending please go speak to a governor, they'll take it very seriously and investigate

The PTA is a separate organisation, neither the school nor its governors have any say or discretion in its affairs. The PTA decides how it raises funds and how it wants them spent. If they are sensible this is done in consultation with the school and the HT.

Sorry everyone, HSA is another term for PTA, I meant to just use PTA for charity but my mind was a bit flustered.

Here's another issue, I've just become a governor too 🙈 but not attended any meeting yet as I have only just "joined"/been elected.

Yes, the sponsored walk was organised by the one person and apparently it raised £3500, at least that's what the text a few hours ago stated. We have around 300 children at the school. I know one person in particular raised nearly £400. The school themselves ran the walk, the juniors when up a hill and the infants around the school.

None of the other parents have seen any accounting for the money.

I spoke to the deputy head, I mentioned I was concerned about the money, used the word fraud as I'm am not certain it's right one person having control of all the money is legal and certainly not with our match funder.

Massive thank you to everyone with information and links. I'll be reading up. Thanks so much.

Oh, the charity thing, I can't find the original text, it said something like the HSA have already have a worth cause in mind for the money. I think perhaps it's for a family in need and while I wholehearted support that (in fact if it's the family I am thinking of we have on our own time raised money for the family) I am not sure that 1. That is "allowed" and 2. it needs discussed with us.

*If the treasurer is single handedly making 3500 on one event i’d leave them to it!

I agree with this!

However, I doubt it was raised singlehandedly. Are you sure it's been organised and raised by the PTA?

Regarding the Halloween disco, that certainly won't be held on the day singlehandedly as there needs to be a number of supervisors and first aiders present etc.

How many other parents are involved in the PTA who attend the meetings?

It's very small. When I started there was just two other parents, one stopped coming, I started and brought along 3 others, so it's usually 4 parents and the teacher or the head. One of the other members is also a new governor, we are the two with the most concerns, but both very very new to our roles and haven't had any official meetings or training.