Question: Paying for Events for Faculty and Staff only

Is PTA/PTO responsible for, or should we be paying for various luncheons for teachers throughout the year? I'm new to our organization's board, and so far this year, we've bought them a welcome back luncheon, food during testing, teacher appreciation luncheon and their end of the year ceremony which included awards and food. Apparently, this has been the routine for years... We've paid towards of $2000 this year alone, and when we denied a request, they shot back, questioning our budgeting for our end of term board dinner. At what point do we draw the line?

Asked by Anonymous

Answers:

Community Advice

zoezin writes:
WOW, that is a lot. I can see teacher appreciation lunch, but the awards/end of year stuff that is something that should come from the Principal or the district. When we get requests like that we generally will say "we raise money to be used for the KIDS, for field trips, events, programs, etc...not the adults". If they balk at that response just say "It is not in the budget and just because it was done before, does not mean it has to be done this way again". Times are changing and money is tighter. Maybe you cant do anything about it this year, but next year I would really consider cutting your budget, unless of course you have a ton of money!

Advice from PTO Today

Rose H writes:
Hi there,
We think that supporting teachers is really important. The price you quote here is pretty high, though. Is it possible for the group to host these events and not spend quite so much money? When I was on a PTO, we did teacher luncheons with delicious food donated by parents. We barely spent any money and the teachers were beyond thrilled. Another option is to ask a local restaurant to donate food for a luncheon. You can hang a sign that says the food was donated by the restaurant (so it gets free advertising!) and your group doesn't have to spend money.

Rose