In line with the objective of promoting school-community partnerships, the establishment, funding and continued operation of Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs) 01 Parent- Teacher-Community Associations (PTCAs) in public schools shall be strongly encouraged and supported. These associations founded on the noble principles of volunteerism are important vehicles for generating funds as well as mobilizing community support for the school.

To ensure accountability and to clearly establish their juridical personality, PTCAs are encouraged to incorporate or register, as the case may be, with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) or other appropriate agencies. Incorporation or registration will be useful in fund raising from the private sector as donations to the PTCA will be eligible for tax incentives provided under existing laws. Under RA 8525 on the Adopt-a-School Program, the following types of assistance may be given to the public schools and shall be considered as eligible for tax incentives: staff and faculty development, construction and upgrading of facilities, provision of books and other instructional materials and equipment, and modernization of instructional technologies through computers, televisions, internet, satellite programs, etc.

Copies of the by-laws of the PTCAs shall be furnished to the school principals and schools division superintendents. The DepEd division office shall maintain a roster of PTCAs recognized by the schools under their supervision.

While it is recognized that PTCAs rely heavily on contributions from parents for funding, PTCAs are enjoined to adopt a socialized system of contributions whereby poor parent-members do not have to bear a heavy financial burden while parent-members who have a higher capacity to pay can make contributions corresponding to such capacity.

The following guidelines shall be followed in the collection of PTC A fees:

1.  The amount of the PTCA fee shall be determined by the PTC A members themselves at a meeting called for the purpose, provided such collections are made on a voluntary basis and are not required for admission or transfer purposes. Plans of the PTCA on the use of collections should be presented during this meeting.

2.  PTCA fees shall be collected by PTCA representatives and not by the public school teachers. Appropriate arrangements shall be made by the PTCA with the school management on the amount of the PTCA fees to be collected and how and where the collections are to be made. Prior to collection, the following reports are required to be submitted to the school principal: a) PTCA resolution approving the collection of PTCA fees for the current school year, and b) report on receipts and expenditures of PTCA fees collected in the preceding school year.

3.  For School year 2002-2003, the PTCA fees may be collected between September 16- October 31 2002. However, the PTCA during its General Assembly may decide on a periodic payment scheme other than a onetime lump sum payment to fund recurrent school expenses.

4.  Should a PTCA decide to initiate school projects which were not agreed upon in a previous General Assembly and would require fund-raising outside the collection period set through this Order, collection of contributions may be undertaken during the course of the school year provided that such contributions are voluntary, the conditions in Item No. 2 are complied with; and that collection is not done through the school or the teachers, e.g. through a general assembly or some other means. The coercive powers of the school shall not be used to collect these voluntary fees.

5.  To reduce the need for fund raising by PTCAs from among its members, the PTCA officials/members in collaboration with school officials should make representations with the local government and community organizations for the funding of certain school requirements not funded or inadequately funded by the regular DepEd budget for school operations. DepEd representative^ in the Local School Boards, i.e. schools division superintendent and district supervisors, should ensure that the Special Education Fund of the local government unit is used to fund essential school requirements in accordance with the provisions of DECS-DBM-DILG Joint Circular No. 1 s. 1998, Joint Circular No, 1-A s. 2000 and Joint Circular No. 1-B s. 2001.

All DepEd field offices and schools are enjoined to disseminate these guidelines and ensure compliance therewith.