JARRETT GOODMAN
Staff Writer
Members of the Board of Education have approved a request by Whitwell High School to establish a School Support Organization (SSO) for the school’s boys basketball team.
Dr. Mark Griffith of Marion County Schools explained the SSO is essentially a school booster club. Each year the board approves to have an SSO established for the boys basketball team at Whitwell High, in addition to other schools throughout the county.
An SSO is an organization that helps to collect or receive money and materials from students or parents to help support a given school district, class, or activity. SSOs consists of booster clubs, parent-teacher associations, and foundations . According to Tennessee law, an SSO can be established at the beginning of each school year, so long as all required information is accurate and verified by the director of schools within the county. An SSO must also be chartered as a nonprofit, or become a member of an existing nonprofit organization.
The agenda item was unanimously approved by the board, with Whitwell High now able to establish an SSO for the boys basketball team once more this year.