The thread I was talking about is under Free For All and is called (what else?) Free Pasta? The noodles are from Prince, and the name of the sauce is Francecsca Rinaldi Spaghetti Sauce.

Good Luck!

First, I want to address the original issue.

Currently in our district, we supply and host a dinner during our afternoon and evening teacher conferences. Of course the teachers and staff love it. Each elementary school (4) pays out of their individual PTO funds (approx. $200-$300 each) and at the Jr. High level, approx. $700. We have been doing it for several years. Unfortunately, this year, some schools are finding themselves a little low on PTO funds and help and are questioning whether or not this is a practice that they should continue (next Spring). Some questions come to mind - Can one school not do it while the others do? Should we cut it out all together? If so, how do we slowly phase it out? I'm just curious if other districts/schools out there are doing this or are we the only ones "spoiling" our teachers? Any thoughts would be great. Thanks

The way that the first line is written, it appears that this is not just one afternoon/night. If that is the case, you could cut it down to one afternoon/evening. It is also okay for just one school to do it. It is also alright to stop doing it altogether even if there is money in the coffers.

If you are inviting families to attend (hang on, here comes an idea ), why not charge a small price to eat? Staff would eat for free.

By doing pizza by the slice for $1.25 and a soda for another buck, buck and a half, you could recoup the money spent to feed the teachers and possibly make a tidy little profit too (although that is not the point...I know, I know...lol).

Perhaps a Spaghetti Dinner (by far the cheapest idea for feeding a crowd if you ask me), because you can get all the stuff pretty much donated. As a matter of fact, there is a current thread on where to get Prince Spaghetti and Something Somebody Sauce (can't remember the name, starts with a "R"). Both companies donate their product to schools (or so I understand). Might be worth a try. If you wanted something a little fancier for your feast, Baked Spaghetti (regular spaghetti covered in mozzarella cheese and bake it until the cheese melts) is a winner.

During the dinner, while you have a captive audience, try a "Join The PTO" pitch. Pass around membership info and a copy of what your group did last year.

Our PTO provides dinner one night during each conference week. We started out with some 'fancy cooking' by the parents, but honestly, the food does not hold up all night. So we tweaked it a bit and have done soups and breads for the past 2.5 years. The soups are in crockpots so that they stay hot (and you do not have to worry about anyone getting sick:)). We have 3 different soups, bread, and 3 desserts. The teachers love it because they know that the food will be hot when they have the opportunity to eat. The PTO does purchase the drinks and the paper products. We spend about $50 for both dinners.

Our plan is similar to sak's. we rarely pay out more than 50 for each staff appreciation meal (which includes everyone from the cafeteria ladies to the principal). we assign each wing of our school a different aspect of the meal (main dish, drinks, paper products, salad, etc). we then have a catered meal at the end of the year from a local fine dining restaurant. the restaurant is more than generous in its giving, but we still pay about 500 for this meal.

We have 4 faculty lunches each year. Two are on teacher "in-service" days when the teachers are working but the students are not there. One is the last day before the winter holiday break and the last one at the end of the year. For three of these lunches we have our parents sign up to bring a dish. The sign up sheet includes places for parents to sign up to bring paper plates, cups, plastic silverware, etc and includes a request for a vegitarian dish/salad or two.(We don't have any faculty members that follow a vegan diet at this time.) The teachers love their treat and the parents always come through with wonderful dishes. Our only "catered" meal is at the end of the year. We ask for parents to contribute $2-$5 towards sub sandwiches for the teachers.

Man, we much be cheap. Our PTO has spent around $50 ONCE in five years! Everything is pot luck from the parents and we purchase paper products if a parent doesn't bring it in. We pick a menu, make a few calls, and lunch is served! We have learned sub sandwiches don't go over at all.

As far as district wide, I honestly know our neighbors that teach have a catered lunch and she still brings her own lunch anyway!

How do you all handle vegans? We have learned to always offer a salad along with a meatless dish.