Yeah, it is a completley different situation when the teachers don't want to be supportive, yet want your money for things.

If I were in your shoes I would tell the principal that the PTO would love to accomodate the staff with the food requests. However, since your fall catalog sale did not produce the funds you expected that you are financially unable to do anymore then what you already budgeted for and I would say that if the financial situation changes that you will be happy to provide the food but that for right now you can't.

You'd be telling the truth and you cannot really be expected to take money away from the kids when you don't have the funds you really need.

Our principal asked us for a few things at the beginning of the year. We were a new board and the old board left us with very little financially. We then just went to see him and told him as much. We will be buying the items needed in a few months when the money is there. He completely and totally understood and there were no issues.

At the first meeting the princpal told us we would not be requested to provide meals for the teachers/staff this year after problems from last year, so no money was set aside to do this. We do provide a breakfast and a lunch throughout the year and those are budgeted for. Our problem is coming because we had a very poor fall fundraiser turnout, only got about 2/3 of what we expected and about 1/2 of what we have gotten in the past. We have agreed to the pizza party to help them with the new computer program and we are doing a potato bar for conferences but someone asked why we weren't providing dinner the night befor ewhen they stay late and now we are being asked for another dinner for them to work on the grades for the next quarter and someone asked why we weren't providing a lunch for inservice day. Teachers are not attending the meetings and are constantly griping about the box tops programs and any fundraising, basically biting the hand that feeds them and now it's just assumed that we will provide food anytime they stay late, why is this?

We pay for food for our teachers at least three times a year. One time is pizza, the other two are more elaborate lunches.

Whenever we are asked to do or provide something we are very accomodating about it. Our Principal, Staff, & teachers are very supportive of us. No one gives us a hard time about anything nor are we ever told we cannot do something. So by the same token we do try to provide them with the things they want or need.

If for some reason we are asked to do something we cannot do, we will speak to the principal about it and explain why we cannot do it and then we will try to do it at a later time if possible.

If this is a problem for you why not speak with the principal? Or you can set a specific budget that you are willing to spend on food for the staff.

This year our school district has a new program for grading that doesn't allow teachers to do it from home, our school also has about 15 new teachers out of 25. I was asked if the PTO could help with a pizza party for these teachers so they could stay late with the IT person and get the new program figured out and their grades intered in the system. We agreed that this was an accepteble expense and hoped that it would bring these teachers closer together so that maybe we wouldn't have such a large turnover rate again. Now I'm being asked to do it again for next semester. This isn't a lot but when will it be enough? The PTO is also asked to pay for food for the staff that stays from 8-8 on parent teacher conference days. Why is the PTO paying for all this food for teachers? Does anyone else have schools that do this continually?