Supporting your school |
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Can the school impact what our PTA does?
Your PTA is a separate legal entity. Because you exist for a charitable purpose, you are considered a charity, whether you’ re registered with the Charity Commission or not. As such, under charity law it is the elected committee members who have equal, legal responsibility for the running of the association. That being said, your headteacher and the governors of the school are responsible for any activity that takes place on school grounds and have the authorty to restrict activities they disagree with. This applies to any goods or services your PTA wants to donate to the school, which can be refused. When holding events on the school site, you must adhere to school policies. You can hold PTA events offsite if you wish and you won’ t need the school’ s permission to do so.
In some circumstances, a headteacher can be asked to become the president of your PTA without election. A president is an honorary title – it holds no voting rights, is considered neither an elected committee member nor a Trustee, and is not allowed to vote at any committee meetings. A president is not legally responsible or accountable for running the association. It is a largely symbolic role, but having a president is an excellent way of keeping open communication between the school and association and helps manage conflicts of interest. Presidential roles and permissions should be detailed in your constitution.
Can our school tell our PTA what to fundraise for?
Short answer? No. Long answer? Everything you fundraise for should be discussed with the school to
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make sure it is something they actually want. A lot of PTAs open up‘ bids’ to school staff and subject departments, which is a great way to get a sense of what the school needs while allowing your committee to‘ park’ or‘ prioritise’ requests. It’ s up to your committee to choose what you raise money for and to decide whether any bids or requests correlate with your constitution and charitable objectives for the year. But be mindful with your decisionmaking – if some of the items on the school’ s wish list are refused by committee, consider funding something else that fits the objectives of both the PTA and the school. This will strengthen your relationship and frees up funds for the school.
Can our school tell us what to spend money on?
No. As above, all spending is a committee decision. Only the elected committee members can decide how funds are spent and
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they must ensure the objectives are set out in the constitution. The school can suggest, ask and advise, but they cannot literally tell you what to spend your money on. Be clear and firm about this, but also meet them halfway and be flexible when you can.
Our school has asked us to pay for something last-minute. Should we?
If it is agreed upon by the committee and aligns with your constitution and fundraising objectives, you can.
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Illustrations: iStock. com / Tetiana Yurchenko, Simple Line. Photography: shutterstock. com / Pearl PhotoPix, Anastasia Klevakova |