Wow there is so much that money could do for the students and teachers. We do a potluck for the teachers and staff and spend about $250 on some platters from the local grocery and sub shop. You can also get platters donated from local restaurants. The money would be better spent on teacher wish lists or an educational event at school. Just my opinion, but as a PTO President, I would never approve that much money be spent on a luncheon. That's not why we work so hard all year fundraising for.
Ummm... our PTO spends NO MONEY on our teacher luncheon. We contact our community restaurants, coffee shops and grocery stores to donate to our teachers luncheon. Each donation site offers us a menu item for free and our teachers end up with a wonderful array of choices and leftovers for days! They are so completely happy with the luncheon we put on every year. Our PTO is asked to do things for our teachers and we vote on it. We are not forced - no bullying allowed! Our teachers appreciate what we provide and they don't care how much money we spend on it. It's about appreciation, not the dollar amount!
$1,000 for a catered lunch for 60 people is more than $16 per person. That does sound expensive. But the person who commented that maybe your Hospitality Committee is asking for a break from potlucks may be right. Our solution was to ask for restaurant discounts/donations so we could cater for a smaller cost.
For years, our school relied on parents to donate dishes. In recent years, our Teacher Appreciation Chairpeople were always struggling to find enough parents willing to make dishes. It was stressful to hope that all the food was 1) brought in on time, and 2) looked/tasted good. As more and more parents were working, they got tired of being responsible for cooking dishes to donate. Plus, it can be unsettling to eat food when you don't know who prepared it or what ingredients are in it, etc. So, we switched over to using restaurants for most of the food and asking for parents to make/donate desserts.
We have never spent $16 a person though. We have been able to get great deals from local restaurants when we tell them what it's for. Our budget for Teacher Appreciation meals is $600 and that covers 3 meals for about 45 people. We usually tell the restaurant we have $200 to spend on a meal for our teachers and staff and the end up giving us a good discount. In turn, we make sure we "advertise" about the restaurant's generosity to our families and teachers.
At our school, it's really not about whether we can afford $16pp for a meal, but whether we WANT to spend the money on that. We have a budget of $30K, but the PTO gives our teacher's allotments to buy supplies for their classroom at the beginning of the school year that total $9K.
Compromise is always the best solution though, so figure out what motivates the Hospitality Committee to ask for so much money and then vote your conscience!
It sounds to me like your hospitality Commitee might want it a little easier this year. It's a lot less work coordinating with one person (catering company) then to figure out, who is bringing what.
With so many allergies lately, I'm sure the staff would appreciate knowing exactly what was in their meal.
But 1000.00 if way to much, the Commitee must get the price down to at least half and supplement with food donations from families.
How much is set in your budget for this event? If you don't set a budget each year, you need to. And then you need to sit down with your treasurer and decide how much money you can afford for this event. I agree with the poster that said just saying that is too much is not a great attitude to start the discussion and by saying we can't afford $1000, but we do have $xyz to spend on staff appreciation is a much better starting point for the discussion.
Our PTA spends $600 between 2 schools on staff appreciation luncheon during staff appreciation week. It buys the main course and we ask for parents to donate desserts for the event. We would love to be able to spend more, but with parents having less to spend on our fundraisers...
Decide what your group can afford to spend and stick to it. Point out that to spend more will mean cancelling other programs you run and ask the principal and staff for help in getting the most out of your available dollars.
