In mid-May, the officers of the Harvard Parent Teacher Organization received a letter from the state attorney general alerting them that the group had not filed its required yearly report as a nonprofit since 2013. Until the missing financial reports were filed, the May 10 letter stated, the state would not issue the group a certificate of solicitation, without which the PTO could not ask for donations.
In an interview with the Press last week, PTO President Laura Thomas and Vice President Laura Hunt said this was one of several problems that had blindsided the new board after it took office in fall 2017. To file the missing forms for 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017, Thomas said, the officers had to reconstruct years of missing financial information. But, she said, all the forms were filed before the June 7 deadline set in the attorney general’s letter. In a later email, Thomas emphasized that this issue in no way affects the PTO’s legal status as a nonprofit organization, donations to which are tax deductible under Internal Revenue Service rules.
A spokesperson for the attorney general’s office, Margaret Quackenbush, confirmed by phone only that the original May 10 letter had been sent. She said she could not confirm that the office had received the overdue forms, because they would be processed manually before being recorded. She also could not say how long it would take to issue a new certificate of solicitation for the PTO. For now, the organization is free to accept donations, another spokesperson explained, but not to solicit them.
Bylaw changes
As part of an overall reorganization, the current PTO board also revised the group’s bylaws, substituted a May Gala dinner at Shaker Hills Country Club for the traditional end-of-year elementary school Fun Fair, and told the organizers of the after-prom party Celebration that they could no longer use the PTO tax identification number and bank account. Each of those measures has been controversial.
One feature of the new bylaws was to make the group’s treasurer an appointed position, rather than an elected board member. Thomas and Hunt said the recent record-keeping problems convinced them the treasurer should be chosen on the basis of expertise rather than by vote.
Thomas attributed the switch to the dinner Gala from the Fun Fair to the need for a less labor-intensive fundraiser. She said the Gala raised 50 percent more money than last year’s Fun Fair. She also said the Gala attracted Bromfield parents, helping to meet the board’s goal of broadening participation among middle and high school families.
Splitting with Celebration
But some parents felt that the PTO board undercut that same Bromfield connection by a surprise announcement that Celebration could no longer use the PTO tax ID. From 1997 to 2010, the postprom event had operated under the Harvard Schools Trust tax number. But in 2010 the trust asked Celebration to split off. From 2011 until this year, Celebration used the PTO tax ID, with its own Middlesex Savings Bank account under the PTO number.
According to Thomas, Middlesex Savings raised questions about the Celebration account because none of the PTO officers was listed as an authorized signer on it. The PTO was responsible for the account but had no knowledge of its activity, Thomas said, a situation she and other officers considered financially and legally risky.
Even the timing of the split has been a subject for debate. Thomas said the board informed Celebration around the time of this year’s event, so that the group would have a full year to make new arrangements. But Celebration supporter Stephanie Opalka pointed out that bills for this year’s after-prom party were still coming in just at the time its organizers were being asked to find a new sponsor or to get their own tax ID and a new bank account.
