As a former teacher, I can say with confidence that teachers appreciate the gesture, but also recognize that it's an unnecessary expense. I'd say skip everything but the luncheon, and make it something quick like sandwiches. We have lots to do at the end of the semester, so a day when we can just grab lunch without thinking about it is a welcome treat. You may even be able to get a local restaurant to donate the food. Also, Panera will give you their "day old" stuff at the end of the day, and our PTSA often used that to give teachers a delicious breakfast.
Spending 2/3rds of the remaining year's budget on teacher gifts when only half way through the school year is fiscally irresponsible.
In our school, each class takes a collection for the teacher gifts. The PTO budget is reserved for fundraising expenses and the purchase of educational materials/equipment and facility improvements.
I strongly think that giving a gift to your teachers is a wonderful thing. SOmething they can spend on themselves is great b/c most teachers spend there own money on their classrooms.
If you don't want to spend $ from your PTO budget then take a collection from each class.
The hardest part of that is for the MS and HS teachers. THis year we have taken a collection from each student and are giving the teachers a selection of stores to choose from. I DO want them to spend ot on themselves and movie night or dinner. THey work SO HARD!
Sorry if I offend anyone but what is the point of holding on to something when it can bless those who work so hard educating our children.
Thanks for your input. I'm actually the Vice President this year and was the President for the previous two school years. I've never agreed with handing cash to the teachers. If they have needs, present me with a list and I am more than happy to buy anything on that list. This being said...the vote passed 3-1. I was the only hold out.
I honestly think that the part that aggravated me the most was that the teachers in attendance were told "this is money to spend on YOURSELF, NOT for your classroom".
I'm with dlf, that's a huge percentage of your budget to put toward non-educational purchases. If your group wanted to put that money towards say, gift baskets of classroom supplies, that would be another story, and would probably be just as appreciated by the vast majority of your teachers.(A suggestion for next year.) Most of the teachers I know wouldn't want to accept the gift card, or if they did, they would spend it on items for their classroom.
Our school district has a $5 limit on gifts for teachers, so we couldn't give them that much anyway. Also, the students and their parents give gifts at the holidays if they choose, which in my opinion is how it should be.
I think spending that much of your budget is too much (in my opinion). We do spend about 3k per year on teachers but our budget is closer to 20k a year. If we were to spend 3/4s of our budget on teachers I'd have a real problem with that. Unfortunately if it passed, then it passed (unless some of our uber parlimentarians have something to add here). You may want to pursue a board position next year so you can have a greater impact on where the money goes.
If you vote on the budget at the start of the year that is a good time to start to petition that this particular line item be limited.
