I have always been leary of the grant format for PTO/teachers. How do you decide which grants are ok and which you decline? As a parent, I'm not sure I'd want to make that decision. Any teacher funding needs go thru our principal who makes the decisions based on how much money he has available from other sources, long-term view of the school, and balance between grades/teachers. The PTO sets a funding limit that he controls. He can use it as he sees fit, but only up to the limit the PTO sets. For the teachers directly, the PTO allocates $100 per teacher per year that they get simply by returning $100 in receipts for classroom materials.
In our PTO we have what we call TEACHER MINI GRANTS We set aside $100.00 per teacher for these grants. We have them submit a proposal to the board requesting what the grant would be used for (excluding:phones,tv's ect.) They must be put to use for educational purpose for the children. Or an item the children could use during class / recess. We do this every year with one clause if the teacher received a mini grant last year they can not apply for a mini grant this year. Our teachers love it. Sometimes they use their mini grants in the spring for popcical days rewards or pizza parties for a job well done. Our Music teacher used his for a Tape machine to record the childrens voices during assembalies. Every bit helps them
Thanks everyone. That was a huge help. Would anyone be able to email me their request for funds form. I found out today that we did have one in the past but you know how someone always takes the last one and never makes a copy. My email address is This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Thanks a million.
Our principal is in the group that approves these decisions. Not the sole decision maker but always included. She knows about money, grants, etc that we don't and she works hard to make sure our money isn't wasted.
The irony of commitment is that it’s deeply liberating-in work, in play, in love. The act frees you from the tyranny of your internal critic, from the fear that likes to dress itself up and parade around as rational hesitation. To commit is to remove your head as the barrier to your life. --Anne Morris
Many of us do think it's important to let the principal provide input for teacher requests. We just had discussion on this last week that you might want to explore:
