Our classes are similar in size. Generally 20 kids in younger grades, 25- 29 kids in grades 4 and 5. However, what would probably dictate the needs of the classes more would be the age of the teacher! We have new teachers with small classes that need a lot of things but our more "seasoned" teachers probably just need to replace old stuff. The reimbursement works well and the teachers never abuse it. Some teachers spend the whole $100, some don't. We are a public school.

It seems like you all give so much per room. Are most of your class similar in size? We've been thinking about this for next year but one grade may have 25 children while another has 11. I'm thinking a per child fee for the teacher would be better but I'm not sure. Looking for some ideas in this regard. Thanks.

Just wondering also, we're a private school and teachers buy all their own supplies. Are the PTO's that give so much per classroom public or private?

We reimburse each teacher up to $100 a year, we also fund 1/2 the cost of all field trips and give the school $15 per child for a technology fund. Looks like there are as many ways to give to the teachers as there are people on this forum!

We now give our teachers and support staff $3000.00. They decide how to split it and our treasurer keeps track of how much each teacher has spent. We used to give each teacher $150.00 for classroom expenses and $300. per grade for field trips. They prefer it this way as some teachers need more than others.

We give each teacher $225 to use for the classroom. They buy everything from basic supplies to games for indoor recess to special educational materials to supplement curriculum. Personally, I feel this is the best use of our funds. Every child benefits equally and we are improving the educational opportunities our children have available.

If it is a year that we dedicate to re-building the financial reserve, we give each classroom and resource teacher$250-$300 and $100-$150 to the cafeteria, each guidance counselor, speech therapists, ESL teachers, etc. to be used at the teachers'/managers' discretion. If we have a major financial goal for the year we give $200 to the first group and $75-$100 to the second group. In addition, we give each classroom $200 for field trip funds which can only be used for that purpose.