Parents ask Galt district to pause new PTO rules; staff agrees to meetings
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Summary
Parents from Valley Oaks and Greer urged the Galt Joint Union Elementary School District to put the new school-connected organization application deadline on hold, objecting to requests for sensitive banking details and mandatory signatures; district staff said the deadline would be paused and that meetings with PTOs will be scheduled.
Parents representing school parent-teacher organizations pressed the Galt Joint Union Elementary School District board to halt enforcement of newly issued application requirements and to work with parent groups to revise the packet.
"If we are going to be forced to do these things, then we have already looked at each other and said, you know what? Maybe we don't continue as an organization," said Omar Anzaldua, who spoke to the board as a parent. He asked the district to "put the deadline on hold while we work on this issue."
Melissa Lane Anzaldua, president of the Valley Oaks PTO, told trustees the district's draft requirements felt like "micromanaging" independent volunteer groups. She and other speakers objected to providing bank account numbers and required signatures for documents, saying local bankers had warned that exposing account numbers is risky and that the workload placed on a small volunteer leadership — she said Valley Oaks serves roughly 553 students with nine steady volunteers — would be unsustainable.
Megan Skarlocken, representing Greer's parent club, said name-approval and response timelines were slow and asked the district to include all PTOs in a coordinated review. "We could provide monthly treasury reports," she said, offering alternatives to sharing account numbers.
District staff told the board during public comment they had already begun revising the application. "We are not going to stick to that October due date," Speaker 3 said, and staff promised to schedule meetings and workshops to walk parent groups through forms and requirements. Business department staff and the superintendent said some new requests reflect insurer or administrative requirements and existing board policy related to fundraising, but they agreed to revise applications and offer support sessions.
Board members thanked the speakers and directed staff to organize meetings with parent groups and to delay enforcement of the October deadline until PTO concerns are addressed.
The district said it would provide workshops and one-on-one assistance for parent organizations to complete revised applications and will not require groups to pause ongoing fundraisers while revisions and discussions continue.
Next steps: staff will convene parent groups for a joint review of the application, extend the application deadline, and circulate revised materials before the next board meeting.
