I'm writing to gauge what other schools do for end of year teacher appreciation gifts. I'm in the PTO at an public elementary school, and each year the PTO sponsors and staffs teacher appreciation luncheon as well as presents all teachers (approx. 45) with gifts. Support staff (approx. 40) also receive gifts. Last year teachers received Ipads (for school & personal use, but actually owned by the school), as well as generous gift cards. Support staff received gift cards in lesser amounts.

This year, our PTO is again doing the luncheon, as well as providing $75 gift cards for teachers, $25 for support staff. All total, approx. $4,800 will be spent just on gift cards, along with the $700 on the luncheon. The PTO will also be doing little notes and candies each day of teacher appreciation week for everyone one staff, so maybe an additional $200 will be spent of that.

I'm writing to see if this is pretty normal or does it seem like the amount spent on end of year food and especially gifts is high? My own personal opinion is that $75 per teacher is crazy high, and that the gift money would be better spent on equipment, software and supplies which would directly benefit the school. Or the money could be put toward a fund to eventually purchase a nice playground setup, because our school has a pretty bad one. I don't mind funding a luncheon and providing small gifts to each teacher (maybe $25 and under), as well as small tokens of appreciation throughout the week.

Any feedback you guys could provide would be very helpful and appreciated. Thanks in advance!!