We do not pay for any staff development or conferences either. When our principal recently made such a request, I was surprised by how strongly my board was against it! The general consensus was that those things should be covered by the school budget. Things change with each board, but we try to focus our funds on
enhancing fine arts, field trips, and items that the teachers & kids may not be able to have otherwise.

Hi bensmom...We do not pay for any staff development. The district pays for alot of it and then I know our school is very very good at finding grants for bettering itself. The first question that came to my mind when reading your post is are the parents aware that so much money is going to the staff...yes it makes better teachers and so on and so on. If we did it once in our school it would be the last, other than Teachers appreciation(1000.00) our parents would have a major issue with that money not being spent on the kids. I guess it depends on your mission and maybe you cover alot of other school things...we just do "fun" stuff but thats our mission.

I would love to know if other PTO's pay for Staff Development. For example; registration fees for conferences, lodging, meals, mileage, etc. I understand that some conferences are provided by the school board but a lot are not. We payed out $5,000 last year. This is my second year as a member (I'm the Treasurer this year)and I am the chair for the Budget Committee to plan next year's budget so this info would be great in deciding "how to" for next year. Thanks for all the information everyone gives in this discussion forum. I have really gotten a great education about PTO business !! I really appreciate your help !!
Judi