Committee Procedures 
Thank you for volunteering your time and effort to help make a wonderful school year for our kids! We hope this will be a rewarding experience for you and are committed to helping you in any way we can. We ask that you please keep notes and copies of fliers to pass on to the next person to chair your committee. Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.
Approval of All Information for Distribution
These procedures should be followed to obtain approval for any information that you wish to send out to the entire school including, but not limited to, fliers, information for the website, and information for inclusion in the monthly electronic newsletter (BEN).
An email attachment of the information your committee wishes to distribute must be sent to the outgoing PTO Co-President, Susan Silverman, for proofreading and approval (susanasilverman@comcast.net). Once the information has been approved by the PTO Co-President she will forward the approved information to Mr. Funseth and the appropriate person:
Mr. Radcliff if it is to be added to the website
Fiona Jackson, so that the information can be included in the newsletter (BEN) **Please note deadlines for BEN submissions. Also, photos and clip art should be sent as a separate attachment.
The PTO Board
Back to the Committee Chair for copying and distribution to the teacher’s mailboxes for fliers being sent home with the students.
Fliers
1. Fliers must be approved before being distributed (see “Approval of All Information for Distribution”)
2. All fliers should be ½ page (i.e. 2 fliers per page) unless prior approval has been obtained from the PTO Board.
3. Fliers must be black and white only – no color or colored paper may be used.
4. All fliers must be distributed using family count unless you receive prior approval from the PTO Board.
Photocopies
1. Once a Flier has been approved it may be photocopied for distribution.
2. All photocopying must be done at The UPS Store in Buckingham Green. The PTO has an account with this
company and they will bill us monthly.
3. Only the Committee Chairperson is authorized to make photocopies.
4. You can email the document to The UPS Store and request the number of copies you want as an alternative to
making the photocopies yourself.
5. Ensure that you fill out a form at the The UPS Store counter when you have completed your copying or when you
collect your copies. Make sure that you indicate
a. the number of copies made and
b. the committee that should be charged for the cost of the copies.
6. You can ask the staff at The UPS Store to bundle the copies into groups of 25 to make distribution easier.
7. Put the appropriate number of family count fliers in each Teacher’s mailbox for distribution. The family count for
each class is displayed on the Teacher’s mailbox.
8. Any additional copies of the flier may be left on the front counter at the office.
9. Put 1 copy of the flier of the notice board in the hallway.
Budget and Expense Reimbursement
Please review the budget guidelines that can be found on the website and make a note of your budget before making any purchases for your event. It is very important that you stay within your budget and follow the guidelines.
1. All requests for expense reimbursement must be supported by a receipt or invoice. NO EXCEPTIONS!
2. Fill in an Expense Reimbursement Form and attach your receipt(s).
3. Place you completed Expense Reimbursement Form in the “Treasurers” folder in the PTO filing cabinet in the
front office. The Treasurer will email you when the check is available.
Banking/ Checks
1. All checks must be made out to “Buckingham Elementary PTO”. This must be clearly stated in any flier or
website or BEN posting where money is being collected.
2. It is the responsibility of the person collecting monies to ensure that all checks are written out correctly. In the
event that a check is not written correctly, the person collecting the checks must go back to the person who
wrote the check and request any correction.
3. All cash and checks for banking must be reconciled and handed to the Treasurer in person. The Treasurer will then
confirm the amount collected and provide a receipt.
5. It is important that cash and checks are banked in a timely fashion. Please consider breaking up your bankings into
several deposits to achieve this rather than holding all bankings until the end of your fundraiser.
Cash Boxes
1. The PTO has 5 cashboxes. These are kept in the PTO closet.
2. If you require a cash float, please provide the Treasurer with the total amount of money you need and the
denominations you require.
3. You need to give the Treasurer 1 week’s notice of any cash you require so that the Bank can be sure to have the
denominations you require on hand.
Hospitality
The PTO Board will be maintaining a central supply of cups, plates, bowls etc to be used by all committees. Before purchasing any supplies for your event, check what is available. You may use any supplies in the PTO closet that are not marked for a specific committee. Always check for paper plates, cups, napkins, utensils, etc., before purchasing them for your event. There are coffee makers available for any committee use. A large percolator is available for serving larger groups or a Keurig and a supply of K cups is available for smaller events.
Purchases of hospitality supplies should be charged to PTO Expenses not your individual committee.
Setting dates for your event
Event dates are set each year with help of the PTO board and principal. The Committee Chair should submit the choice of possible dates to the PTO board and/or the principal for approval. We recommend dates are reserved at least 1 month ahead of time for small events or 2 to 3 months or more ahead of time depending on the size of the event and the amount of preparation needed.
Reserving space for your event
A Facilities Form (front office) must be filled out and submitted to Doris at least 10 days prior to your event. This will ensure that there is no conflict for the space. Several days before your event, the custodial staff (Scott Thomson) should be alerted to your set-up needs.
Fundraisers and Income Events
If you are in charge of an event listed as an “Income” event in the budget then any expenditure should be kept to a minimum. This will help ensure that the event makes or exceeds budget goals.
Whenever possible, arrange with the company supplying the goods to pay only for those items that were used or sold and for the return of unsold items.
Approval to Spend Above $500
The PTO By-Laws prohibit the Executive Board from authorizing expenditure above $500. Amounts above $500 must be voted on at a General PTO meeting. This request must be made in writing and be sent to the Co-President at least 1 week in advance of the PTO meeting.
Chairs for both Fall Fest and Secret Shoppe need to seek approval at the time the Budget is approved for the full amount they anticipate spending that is over $500. This request will form an addendum to the Budget.