Communication Snafu Leaves Attleboro PTOs On Their Own

Lack of communication between the and the parent teacher organizations has resulted in a financial snafu that is forcing individual Parent Teacher Organizations (PTOs) to file with the Internal Revenue Service as independent, tax exempt 501(C)(3)s. Previously, filing with the IRS was just the responsibility of the Central Parents Organization, the umbrella organization of several PTOs in Attleboro.

"As some of you know, our CPO (Central Parents Organization) has lost its tax-exempt status with the IRS; this change has affected some of you significantly and some of you not at all," Business Manager Marc Furtado wrote in an email to organization leaders.

In the same communication to leaders, Furtado asked the group to meet to discuss whether or not to reinstate the CPO. The last time action was taken was in 2008 and the CPO has been defunct for three years, according to documents filed with the state.

School Committee Member and former Hill-Roberts PTO President Jim Stors said the when he brought the situation to the attention of the school committee he was told by Superintendent Pia Durkin that the filing fell through the cracks.

"It was a communication issue as so many things often are," Stors said. "What she indicated to me was that she didn't make a decision back in 2008, just that the annual filing slipped through the cracks in 2009, 2010 and 2011."

As a result, PTOs and nonprofits will need to file with the IRS on their own each year.

Furtado said the PTO/CPO situation was discussed at length at the last two school committee meetings and relayed any additional questions about it to members of the school committee.

Stors said the issue with the CPO was handled by the administration and that the situation was brought before the school committee's attention only after he asked about it.

"I was never notified about this," Stors said, referring to when he was president of the Hill-Roberts PTO. It wasn't until three years later that PTOs were contacted and told that they'd have to deal with this.

Furtado tried to schedule a meeting with leaders of the PTOs, but the meeting never happened. Furtado, however, told the school committee that he reached out to all of the leaders individually to discuss the issue.

The individual parent groups are all supposed to be non-profit organizations who had filed for this status, according to Stors. If, however, the PTOs did not establish themselves under a non-profit status when they were under the CPO umbrella, they will have to pay the IRS user fees between $450 and $800 to apply for that tax-exempt status.

"Many of the cities' groups are already established as a non-profit, so they should be set, with the exception of this annual filing," Stors said.
"Ultimately all the independent organizations need to go through the proper process to be tax exempt. If anything this may have pointed more light at what these organizations need to have done in order to be tax exempt, 501(c)3."

Willett Elementary School's PTO was not impacted by the CPO. "We are a non-profit, we don’t pay anything," said Teasurer Robyn Crowe. "We have to do annual taxes but it’s just as an audit record (to ensure we are using our funds appropriately and complying with non profit status) – we are not assessed any taxes."