Q: Parents at our junior high school want to start a booster club to support the school’s after-school hiking club. How can the parents do this without running into the problems and complications with “public funds” and school accounting that I have heard about on Fox 13 News?—Junior High Teacher/Coach
A: Parents have the right (of course!) to organize in their community to support a school curricular program or after-school activities. How they do that is up to the parents.
Here are some important cautions for the school:
(2) The school should follow its policies about making school property or facilities available to community groups. Is there a fee? Is paperwork required for scheduling?
(1) school employees (at all levels) should not be involved with the booster club organization effort.They should not offer to collect money. They should not offer resources of the school (newsletter, email addresses, student directories) to support or endorse the booster club.
(2) The school should follow its policies about making school property or facilities available to community groups. Is there a fee? Is paperwork required for scheduling?
(3) Once the booster club is fully organized and offers funds or resources to the school, the school should make expressly clear that the funds will be spent as requested by the boosters, but the boosters cannot micromanage the school’s further distribution of funds or equipment.
(4) The school cannot allow the boosters to use its tax exempt status.
(5) The school should have a policy passed by the local board–and refer the boosters to the policy–for additional questions that booster club members have about interaction between school employees and the booster club.
(6) Finally, school employees have an ethical responsibility to follow the school’s policy about their involvement with booster club activities and fund raising.
What is UPPAC? UPPAC is a committee of nine educators and two community members charged with maintaining and promoting a high standard of professional conduct and ethics among Utah teachers. It is advisory to the Utah State Board of Education in making recommendations regarding educator licensing and may take appropriate disciplinary action regarding educator misconduct.
For more information about UPPAC or to submit your questions to the UPPAC Q&A, contact William Spiegel at william.spiegel@schools.utah.gov or by phone at 801-538-7500.
Read the UPPAC newsletter, “Utah School Law Update,” for more Utah public education legal news and information.
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