[PC News] Minutes, PTO Financial Tips, Sheriff's Office Workshops
Shelley Payne
shp at alumni.virginia.edu
Wed Oct 13 21:49:47 EDT 2004
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** Parent Council News, October 13, 2004 **
http://avenue.org/parentcouncil
<http://avenue.org/parentcouncil>
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Topics in This Issue:
1. Minutes of October 5th meeting
2. Jackson Zimmerman's handout on PTO financial tips
3. Workshops provided by the Albemarle County Sheriff's Office
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1. Albemarle County Public Schools Parent Council Meeting Minutes, October
5, 2004
Members present: Chip Deale, Crozet; Craig Wilson, Hollymead; Jess Haden,
Brownsville; John Habermeyer, Red Hill; Dan Dunsmore, Meriwether-Lewis;
Debbie Vermillion, Stony Point; Stacy Walker, Sutherland; Libby Carpenter,
Sutherland; Jim Stern, Red Hill; Tom Pajewski, Baker-Butler; Chris Riley,
Cale; Dee Walsh and Carol Saller, Albemarle; Debbie Stollings, Agnor Hurt;
Sarah Lloyd and Monica Pawinski, Woodbrook; Cindy Adams, Walton; Susan
Turner, Stone-Robinson; Debbie Owen, Greer; Denise Ramey, Stone-Robinson;
Teresa Hashisaki, Murray; Lisa Moorefield, Western Albemarle; Barbara
Stevens, Broadus Wood; Bernardette Hearns, Brownsville.
Staff present: Dr. Kevin Castner; Steele Howen; Christy Sinatra; Jackson
Zimmerman
Guests present: Sheriff Ed Robb, Sgt. Eric Hess, Albemarle County Sheriff’s
Department; Jim Cooper, The Shannon Foundation.
The meeting was called to order at 7:08 p.m.
1) Council President Chip Deale welcomed members and guests. Members
introduced themselves to the group.
2) Special Presentation by the Sheriff’s Office – Sheriff Ed Robb, Sgt.
Eric Hess
a. Sheriff Ed Robb introduced Sgt. Eric Hess, the Director of the Crime
Prevention Academy. This Academy for community members uses top-notch,
expert instructors to teach community members subjects related to crime
prevention. The Office will provide free presentations for parent groups or
schools upon request.
b. Sgt. Hess distributed a handout that’s also available on the Sheriff’s
Department Web site at http://www.albemarleso.org/academy.html that lists
educational programs available to groups, organizations, and schools in the
community. The programs include:
i. Safe
Surfing on the Internet
ii. Sexual
Assault Prevention
iii. Lost but Found
Safe and Sound
iv. Eddie Eagle
v. Teen
Suicide Prevention
c. Sgt. Hess also said the Office offers a Class Action Program geared to
parents and students in both middle and high school. The program reviews
laws pertinent to students and reviews the consequences for juveniles
breaking laws. The Albemarle Police Department also offers this program.
d. The Office also offers two new programs for parents and staff on
biological weapons and explosives. Recent terrorist activity has caused a
spike in the use of improvised explosives and biological weapons. This
program helps parents and staff learn how to identify things like pipe bombs
or how to identify packages or letters that may be hazardous.
e. Sgt. Hess said parents can visit the Sheriff’s Office web site to
learn about Internet safety for children. He recommended visiting the
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children website to learn about
Internet safety for kids.
3) Special Presentation by Jim Cooper, president, the Shannon Foundation
a. The Foundation began in 1990. Parent Council member Lisa Moorefield
was a founding member. The Foundation raises money to give grants to
teachers in Charlottesville and Albemarle for programs teachers propose to
enhance learning for children in their classrooms and schools.
b. Each year, the foundation gives about 5 percent of its total assets to
teachers. Right now the Foundation has about $300,000 in assets which means
it gives about $15,000 each year.
c. Typically the Foundation receives 50 to 100 grant requests and awards
grants to 20 to 25 requestors. Since the Foundation started, it has given
257 grants totaling more than $170,000. The grant applications are read
“blind” by a committee and ranked based on their merits.
d. The Foundation has two grant levels: Level 1 for requests up to $500
and Level 2 for requests up to $5000. Level 2 requests typically are for
school-wide projects or projects involving several grade levels and teachers
working together.
e. Mr. Cooper thanked the PTOs that have contributed money to the
Foundation in the past and hopes they will continue to do so. Administrative
costs are borne by the members of the Foundation Board to ensure that 100
percent of all donations go to supporting the teacher grants.
f. Grant applications and information are delivered to every school
around February and are due back about two months later.
g. Background information can be found on-line at
Virginia.edu/cla/shannon
h. Dr. Castner said the Division will consider providing a stipend to a
teacher to organize and conduct a workshop for Albemarle teachers interested
in submitting a competitive grant.
4) Old Business
a. Minutes: Typographical errors submitted by Shelley Payne have been
corrected. Dan Dunsmore motioned to approve the Minutes of May and September
2004. Stacy Walker seconded the motion. The motion passed.
b. Committee Appointments:
i. Equity and
Diversity Committee applications are available. The Committee does not
require a Parent Council representative.
ii.
Re-Districting Committee application has been extended to Oct. 7, 2004. More
applicants are needed as some feeder patterns do not have any
representatives in the applicant pool at this time. Applications are
available by calling the School Board Clerk’s Office at 296-5893.
iii. Tom Pajewski
will be the Parent Council representative to the Technology Committee.
iv. The Parent
Council continues to seek three at-large representatives. Candidates are not
required to be parents; they can be community representatives. Those with
suggestions are to speak with Chip or Kevin.
5) Superintendent’s Report – Dr. Kevin Castner, superintendent
a. Dr. Castner said the system is in good shape. We are holding our own
with state and national test scores. There are some areas that need work
such as 3rd grade reading.
b. All students who graduated last school year did so with the required
verified credits.
c. The Division considers the Standards of Learning (SOLs) to be
baselines for academic equity. The things we are working on in our schools
stretch far beyond the SOLs.
d. This year we are implementing the Design 2005 Framework for Quality
Learning. The new framework measures much more than what’s on standardized
tests. They involve experiences where kids interact with teachers, get
engaged in active problem solving and application of their learning.
e. As part of the new Framework, we are implementing a teacher classroom
performance appraisal piece. Principals are being trained to work in teams
to go from classroom to classroom to help teachers raise the bar. This
component was designed with teachers and does include accountability. The
goal is to reduce variance in instructional delivery across our classrooms.
Principals also are being trained to use “4-minute walk throughs” to help
teachers make quick adjustments when needed. There was discussion about how
the teacher performance piece will lead to continuity in how teachers
deliver content and material while still allowing flexibility for
creativity.
f. There was discussion about the new Framework including standards in
grading and parental communication.
g. Dr. Castner said that as we expect more from students, we expect more
from teachers. We are taking steps to be even more successful in recruiting
and retaining teachers and administrators. Parent Council support last year
was very helpful in recruitment. In some schools, more than 80 percent of
the staff can’t afford to live in the county where they work. We think it’s
good for teachers to live in the county where they work, but our county is
expensive and we will continue efforts to offer fair salaries in comparison
to peers and in regard to the learning that’s happening in our schools. Our
Division is clearly in the top 10 percent of the state and to have salaries
in the 50 percent range is a disconnect. While we made the biggest dent ever
in reaching our goal for salaries last school year, more must be done and we
will review compensation again this year.
h. He reminded parents to take concerns to their principals first.
i. He encouraged parent groups that haven’t yet had a “state of the
schools” address from their principal to request one.
6) Students Make A Difference Day status report – Chip Deale, Parent
Council president
a. This event had a kick-off today with good media presence. Make A
Difference Day will be Oct. 23.
b. Every school and the central office have committed to a project to get
us to 100 percent participation. Many community partners are helping.
c. Each PTO needs to document number of participants, volunteer hours,
etc. Hours prior to Oct. 23 and on Oct. 23 can be counted. Taking
photographs and sharing them with Parent Council will be helpful for the
report the Division will prepare for the national awards competition.
Schools can coordinate what they submit and when with June Smith.
d. The first time the Division participated, it was one of 10 national
award winners.
7) Program Presentation: Financial Do’s and Don’ts for PTOs – Jackson
Zimmerman, executive director of fiscal services for Albemarle schools
a. Mr. Zimmerman distributed a handout and asked for questions.
b. The following PTO finance issues were discussed:
a. Tax deductions. This is an area where we must be careful. The Division
must be sure donors get the documentation needed to avoid placing the donor
at risk if audited by the IRS. Unless a PTO has its own Federal Tax ID
Number, documentation from a PTO will not qualify for the purposes of tax
deduction.
b. Incorporated non-profit and 501c3 status. Jackson said being a 501c3 is
a definite benefit. Jim Stern from Red Hill said their PTO recently went
through the process of becoming a 501c3 and it was well worth it. It took
about 6 weeks and cost $150. The process was easy for Red Hill. Red Hill
will provide copies of its completed forms for interested PTOs. Jackson
advised that once PTOs have 501c3 status, they need to keep the status
active.
c. Donations of “fixed assets” vs. cash or “cash equivalents.” Jackson said
a fixed asset is a very different donation than cash. If someone wants to
give money for a particular program, the person simply needs to submit a
check with a brief letter attached that explains how the donation is to be
spent. The donation is submitted to Fiscal Services, to the School Board and
County Supervisors for approval. A letter then is sent to the donor
containing our Federal Tax ID #. The process is simple and it meets the
legal requirement that the governing body must accept donations in order for
the donation to be a tax deduction. A PTO that wants to buy an item for its
school should give the funds to the school to make the purchase. This allows
the item purchased to be included in the Division’s inventory. If a PTO buys
an item directly, it may not get entered into the inventory.
d. Division history regarding school activity funds and donations. About 5
years ago the Division looked at school activity funds and what was
happening off the books and started building an activity fund manual to
guide financial activities at school sites. Through that process, we saw
schools accepting many small donations with the expectation that the donor
would take a tax write-off but no written documentation was being provided
to donors and that put donors at risk. The Division did not want to make the
process hard but didn’t want to put donors at risk. In addition, they
learned through queries of banks that the Division’s Federal Tax ID Number
was being used by PTOs consistently and the Division’s auditors said the
Government could interpret that as all PTOs acting on behalf of Albemarle
schools, forcing the Division to audit every PTO. At that time, the Division
started encouraging PTOs to get their own Federal Tax ID Numbers to enable
them to manage their funds independently.
e. Division guidelines for appropriate donations. This is done on an
individual school basis, with principal and staff input.
f. Fund-raising policies. The Division does not have a blanket statement
for fund-raising because there are too many options to cover in one
statement. PTO groups with questions need to contact Fiscal Services or the
Superintendent’s Office. There are guidelines for flyer distribution in
schools that do not allow for-profits to distribute in schools. The case is
different for non-profits for events like Jump Rope for Heart. All flyers
must be approved by Diane Behrens in the central office before distribution
to parents through a school.
g. Parent concerns. Parents with concerns about proposed fund-raisers or
PTO financial practices should raise the issue with the Division
administration for a check and balance.
h. Insurance. The Division provides some insurance for officers in
qualifying PTOs. Those that don’t quality for coverage under the Division
insurance should carry their own. Jackson will check on the Division’s
insurance components and report back.
i. Donations being spent as intended. Donations earmarked for particular
schools, programs or purposes have not been denied. Each School Board agenda
includes a “consent” area where donations are listed. That’s where the paper
trail for donations starts. There is a system in place for anonymous
donations. It is good practice for each PTO to provide the principal with a
copy of the monthly bank statements and to post financial statements on a
bulletin board at school. From an auditing standpoint, the more information
disseminated, the better.
j. Cash donations to teachers. This is not recommended. The IRS can view
cash donations to teachers as taxable income. PTOs should use methods to
distribute money to teachers. It is recommended that the donation be made to
the school with specific instructions about how much is to be given to each
teacher. Teachers will then need to provide receipts to receive the
donation. This method also allows the donation to be reflected in the school
’s annual audit.
k. Cash donation roll-over. Donations given to teachers or schools for a
specific purpose typically must be spent in the same fiscal year. If a
teacher is trying to save annual donations to make a big purchase, the PTO
should discuss this with the principal and Financial Services Department to
determine an appropriate option for achieving the goal. Or, PTOs can tell
the office to return donated funds not spent at the end of the fiscal year
and hold the funds in the PTO accounts. School bookkeepers should not be
asked to track spending of donated dollars. The Crozet PTO, for example, has
a committed fund where money is deposited over time for a specific purpose
to avoid the roll-over issue. When the account is dedicated, its expenditure
is specified.
l. PTO Special event insurance. PTOs hosting special events as fund-raisers
need to call the Division to determine appropriate insurance coverage. For
example, big slides at fun fairs are not covered. The Division’s umbrella
for liability insurance does cover events but not officer actions for
incorporated PTOs. Incorporated PTOs can talk with local insurance carriers
about options. The insurance is typically inexpensive. Chip said
PTOToday.com has some information on this topic.
m. How long should PTO financial records be kept? From a records management
perspective, typically records are kept for seven years. It is advisable to
keep bank statements for the last month of your PTO’s fiscal year for 10
years.
n. PTO Budget Levels. A quick survey was taken of county PTO budgets. Three
reported budgets under $5,000; 1 with a budget between $5,000 and $10,000;
five with budgets between $10-15,000; four with budgets between $15,000 and
$20,000; and four with budgets of more than $20,000.
o. PTO representatives were asked to bring a handout to the next meeting
that shows their school’s PTO budget and where the money comes from as well
as the expenditures. 30 copies.
p. Jackson’s handout is to be distributed electronically to Parent Council
members.
8) Good & Welfare
a. Burley is having a College Night Nov. 10 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. for parents
of middle school students and fifth-grade students.
b. Lisa Moorefield said she and Shelley wanted a Parent Council web site for
some time. They have searched for volunteers to donate time to program a web
site and did not find anyone. She believes we must pay to get the web site
programmed and can find someone to do it inexpensively. The cost would be
around $300. A volunteer would be needed to maintain the web site. Dr.
Castner committed $300 from the Division’s communications budget for this
purpose. Lisa distributed a proposed map of the new web site content. She
asked that members review it and bring comments to the next meeting. Members
are asked to keep in mind that the proposed site map represents a starting
point and that the content list needs to be easy to manage. Her goal is to
have the web site active in January.
c. A question was raised regarding what PTO donations to the Parent Council
fund are used for. Chip will provide a list of expenses at the next meeting.
d. Chris Riley said the Cale organization approved a $50 donation to Parent
Council. Jess Haden said a donation from Brownsville is forthcoming.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:11 p .m.
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2. Jackson Zimmerman's handout on PTO financial tips
PTO Discussion Points
Basic Information
PTOs are separate, but affiliated organizations established to provide
support and assistance to individual schools or Albemarle County Schools as
a whole. Each PTO uses their individual school’s name at the discretion of
Albemarle County Schools and their individual principal. Cooperation with
the principal of each school is an essential aspect of being a PTO. Since
each PTO is a separate entity and not subject to the direct control or
policies of Albemarle County Schools, no PTO is authorized to utilize
Albemarle County’s Federal Tax ID number in any of its transactions. No
PTO, excepting those who have obtained their own Federal Tax ID number, is
tax exempt or may receive charitable donations when the donor expects to
claim them on their tax returns.
Items to Discuss:
1. Donations – Donations may be accepted by PTOs, so long as the donor does
not expect to take a deduction on their income taxes based on the donation.
IRS regulations require the donor to have a letter from a charitable
organization documenting the donation. Only those PTOs with their own
Federal Tax ID number may issue these letters. Alternatively, donations may
be made directly to an individual school via the Albemarle County School
Board, which will then provide full documentation to the donor.
2. Tax Exempt Status – Only those PTOs which have incorporated and obtained
their own Federal Tax ID number are tax exempt. All purchases made by
non-incorporated PTOs are subject to all sales taxes. In no instance should
PTOs utilize Albemarle County’s Tax ID number for any purchases. If PTOs
wish to purchase items for a school, it is possible to give the money to the
school activity funds and then the school could purchase the items directly
via its existing contacts on a tax free basis.
3. Giving Money to Teachers – DO NOT DO THIS WITHOUT REQUIRING A RECEIPT!
Any money given directly to a teacher can be considered taxable income.
This places multiple parties at risk, the teacher for not claiming it as
income, and the PTO for not withholding (if the amount reaches a certain
level). An alternative method often used to provide funds for teachers to
spend in their classrooms is to make a large single donation to the school
activity fund and have the school bookkeeper ensure that receipts totaling
the amount are collected before the funds are reimbursed to the teachers.
4. Insurance – Albemarle County Schools provides liability insurance for the
officers of each non-incorporated PTO. It only covers the liability of the
officers of the organization, acting in reasonable duties as typical of PTO
activities. Also a few PTOs operate funfairs as fundraisers at school.
Insurance is provided for many low risk rides (such as moon bounces),
however many other rides are considered high risk (such as tall blowup
slides). Please have your school principal or office staff contact Fiscal
Services @ 296-5829 to discuss the particulars of the rides planned BEFORE
selecting those rides!
5. Gifts to Custodians – In some schools it is common practice to provide
gifts to custodians for their services. Please do not provide these gifts
in lieu of pay, Albemarle County Schools are responsible for appropriately
compensating their employees for their time. School employees should
generally not accept cash gifts. Non-monetary gifts or gift certificates of
under $50 are generally acceptable under School Board policy.
6. Building Rental – Building use for PTOs is free of charge. For events
that use buildings after normal custodial hours, PTOs are granted up to 4
free man-hours of custodial services for each event. Please be cognizant
that after hours use does cost the division overtime for custodians. While
some custodians may appreciate the extra pay, many would like to be home
with their families
Be nice to the custodians!
Good Practices
1. Please discuss everything with your school’s principal, it is essential
to coordinate the PTO activities with the leader of your school.
2. It is a good practice to have financial data presented on a monthly basis
to all PTO members. Posting of this information on a central school
bulletin board is a good idea. The information should show beginning
balances, expenses, receipts, and ending balances for the month. A short
written statement describing the activities taking place in the month, along
with planned future activities makes everyone aware of past actions and
future activities.
3. It is a good practice to require two (2) signatures on all checks issued.
This requires signature cards at the bank for each signatory.
4. At least 3 persons should be authorized signatory to ensure that checks
can be issued when required.
5. Bank accounts should be opened with the SSN of the treasurer or president
of the PTO or the Federal Tax ID number if the PTO is incorporated.
6. Make an effort to include as many of your school community as possible in
your decision-making. It may be hard to gather people together, but it
worth the effort.
If there are any other questions or issues which the Council would like to
have discussed, please let me know the issues or questions prior to the
October meeting.
Jackson Zimmermann
Executive Director of Fiscal Services
401 McIntire Rd., Rm. 348
Charlottesville, VA 22902
(434) 296-5829
jzimmerm at albemarle.org <mailto:jzimmerm at albemarle.org>
Important Financial Issues for PTO’s
1. Do not pay any school employee for services performed. All payments
for services need to pass through our payroll system to ensure that income
and payroll taxes are withheld. The IRS has severely fined several school
systems across the nation for failure to withhold in these circumstances!
2. If you wish to provide funds for teachers to purchase materials,
please make sure that receipts are provided before you provide any payment.
Otherwise the IRS will consider these payments to be taxable income in an
audit of the teacher, which will result in fines and penalties to the
teacher and the potential of a significant fine for the school system for
failure to withhold.
3. Please do not provide any cash gratuity to school employees. It is
not appropriate for them to accept and it avoids the payroll system for
withholding. Should PTO’s wish to provide gifts for teachers or staff
members, a non-cash gift of under $50 purchase value may be acceptable
(contact your Principal to discuss this beforehand).
4. PTO’s, unless they have incorporated and obtained a Federal Tax ID #,
are not tax exempt. Therefore purchases made directly by the PTO are fully
taxable. In addition, donations made to the PTO are not tax deductible.
Please be sure and make this clear to donors! If the donor does not
understand this and is audited by the IRS, the donor will be most unhappy
with the result.
5. If your PTO is purchasing items for the school, consider having the
school order the items and have the PTO write the check. This will avoid
having to pay sales tax on the items and brings them into the school
inventory through our documentation.
6. Your School Secretary and Principal are a major asset! Use them to
find out how you can help the school and how to deal with the Federal and
State requirements that we have to meet!
7. Should you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact
me.
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3. Workshops provided by the Albemarle County Sheriff's Office
Albemarle County Public Schools Participating in Albemarle County Sheriff’s
Office Programs 2003-04 School Year:
Baker Butler Elementary
* Internet Safety for Parents
* General Safety
Brownsville Elementary
* Career Day 2004
Murray Elementary
* Internet Safety for Parents
Stone-Robinson Elementary
* Eddie Eagle
* Lost but Found
* Internet Safety for Parents
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