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Sending children to collect money or sell tickets door to door is prohibited

Last reviewed: August 24, 2026 — VerifiedEducación

In short

Act 216 of May 11, 1945, as amended, provides that it is totally prohibited to use Puerto Rico public school children in the collection of money or in the door-to-door sale of tickets for public shows. The law itself clarifies what does not count as a prohibited collection: sending notices to parents, through their own children, of the dues they may pay as members of the Parent-Teacher Associations belonging to those public schools, through their own children. Where there is a need to interest parents in any activity benefiting the school, whether for creating playgrounds or for any other work directly related to the school, any teacher or official may direct the public collection or the sale of tickets, as the case may be, by written authorization of the Secretary of Education. Violation of any of the law’s provisions is deemed a misdemeanor and shall be punished with a fine not exceeding twenty-five dollars ($25).

External link

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What is it?

It is a short, very concrete law: it prohibits public schools from using children as fundraisers. It does not ban raising funds for the school — the law itself says how to do it properly: a teacher or official directs it, with written authorization from the Secretary of Education. What the law takes out of the equation is the child going door to door.

Who can do it?

The prohibition protects children in Puerto Rico’s public schools. Any parent or guardian whose child is sent out with tickets or a collection can cite it; so can anyone who receives such a visit at home.

Requirements

Documents you need

Cost

This procedure has no cost.

Step by step

  1. Step 1: The prohibition is written in absolute terms

    The text uses the word: “it is totally prohibited to use Puerto Rico public school children in the collection of money or in the door-to-door sale of tickets for public shows.” Two behaviors, two verbs, with no age or charitable-purpose caveats.

  2. Step 2: What may go home with the child: the PTA dues notice

    The exception is inside the same article and is narrow: sending notices to parents, through their own children, of the dues they may pay as members of that public school’s Parent-Teacher Associations, through their own children, is not understood to be a prohibited money collection. It is a notice to parents, which the child carries to their own home.

  3. Step 3: The proper way to raise funds for the school

    The law leaves it written: where there is a need to interest parents in any activity benefiting the school — whether for creating playgrounds or for any other work directly related to the school — any teacher or official may direct the public collection or the sale of tickets, as the case may be, by written authorization of the Secretary of Education.

  4. Step 4: Two questions you can ask without being difficult

    If the child comes home with tickets: who is directing the collection or sale, and is there written authorization from the Secretary of Education? Those are the two conditions the article sets, and asking them is exactly what the law contemplates. Neither of them turns the child into the seller.

  5. Step 5: The fine, and its date

    Violation of any of this law’s provisions is deemed a misdemeanor and shall be punished with a fine not exceeding twenty-five dollars ($25). We quote the figure as the text carries it; it is worth knowing it comes from a 1945 statute and that its weight today is more symbolic than deterrent. This law’s practical value is not the fine but that the prohibition is express.

Where to do it

The authorization the law mentions is the Secretary of Education’s, so the Department of Education is the natural counterpart when the school does not comply; our special education complaint guide explains how the complaint process works at that Department, even when the issue is not special education. If the problem is using minors in commercial promotional activity, that is a different law with its own guide. If it is minor employment generally, the work permit guide applies.

How long it takes

Check the current processing time with the official agency.

What to do if something goes wrong

The text’s limits. The law speaks of “children of Puerto Rico’s public schools”: it says nothing about private schools, and we will not extend it. It prohibits two named behaviors — the collection of money and the door-to-door sale of tickets for public shows — and it defines neither “public show” nor any age, so neither will we. Section 2 allows a teacher or official to direct the public collection or ticket sale with the Secretary of Education’s written authorization, but the law does not describe how that authorization is requested, how long it takes or what form it takes. What we did not read: any current Department of Education circular letter, regulation or policy on school fundraising. So this guide does not state what today’s administrative rule is, does not describe a school’s internal procedures, and does not assert which specific activities are approved.

Common mistakes

  • Believing that “for the school” makes it allowed: the prohibition has no charitable-purpose exception.
  • Confusing the PTA dues notice with a collection: the law excludes that notice expressly, and only that.
  • Thinking the principal’s permission suffices: the law mentions the Secretary of Education’s written authorization.
  • Reading Section 2 as permission for the child to sell: the one directing the collection or sale is the teacher or official.
  • Applying it to private schools: the text speaks of Puerto Rico public schools.
  • Measuring the law by its $25 fine rather than by the express prohibition it establishes.

Frequently asked questions

Can they send my child to sell tickets door to door?

The law says it is totally prohibited to use Puerto Rico public school children in the collection of money or in the door-to-door sale of tickets for public shows.

What about the PTA dues envelope the school sends?

The law expressly excludes it: sending notices to parents, through their own children, of the dues they may pay as members of the Parent-Teacher Associations, through their own children, is not understood to be a prohibited money collection.

So the school cannot raise funds?

It can, by the route the law describes: where there is a need to interest parents in an activity benefiting the school, any teacher or official may direct the public collection or ticket sale by written authorization of the Secretary of Education.

What is the penalty?

The violation is deemed a misdemeanor and shall be punished with a fine not exceeding twenty-five dollars ($25), a figure that comes from the 1945 text.

Official sources

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

Last verified

August 24, 2026

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