Does anyone know how to access this article that people are referring to? I am trying to get my hands on it and I can't find my original copy. I remember reading it in the fall or summer of 2004 and it helped a lot in clarifying what 501c3 org should do.

We do budget money for staff development/teacher education, and it's about 10 percent of our roughly $15,000 budget. The biggest category in our budget is the classroom fund; we give a set amount to each classroom teacher to spend for his/her classroom as he/she sees fit, with a slightly higher amount set for first-year teachers. We also give a separate amount to the library and something to the music department each year.

We fund several assembly programs each year, we budget for some school-wide equipment purchases each year, and we help complete funding for any project for which a teacher wins a grant. Generally, we follow a set policy of favoring expenditures that affect as many students as possible.

We do not budget very much for teacher appreciation--about $400, or less than 3 percent of our budget. Most of what we do is donated (we do lots of meals & baked goods prepared by the parents), and we lean heavily on "it's the thought that counts"-type gestures.

For Valentine's Day, for instance, our teachers & staff will get a large card, handmade by Yours Truly, and a bowl of heart-shaped Dove chocolates. For their birthdays, each staffer gets a birthday card (donated by a local card rep) and either a highlighter pen ("Wanted to 'highlight' your birthday") or a snack-size package of M&Ms ("Hope your birthday is Merry & Memorable"). I actually got a thank-you note last week for a birthday card, and I was a little embarrassed.

We prebudget all 30,000 to different categories in August. For example:
- 1,600 for after school reading club
- 3,350 for field trips
- 2,500 for student recongnition
- 2,500 for end of year picnic and field day
- 500 for patrol equipment
- 2,200 for assemblies
- 1,400 for drug prevention
- 1,200 for hospitality (but we have not used it all for the past two years even though its still in the budget)
- 1,100 recess games ($50 per class for inside recess games for the classes)
- a ton of mics pre-know items (insurance, ice cream on our schools birthday for all the kids, etc).

Anything that is $100 over budget needs a vote. And, if all of a budgeted funds are not used, we need to vote on using it for something else. We can't just spend it on what ever.

QUESTION:
There are some things that I have questioned over the past two years, but it's the way it has always been and that's how everyone looks at it. Woud you pay for these items from your PTO funds? I'm having a hard time with them personally:
- 2,500 for staff development (training seminars, special classes, etc)
- 7,400 for instructional materials (materials, booklets, etc for class rooms that are not in the district budget). Last year, we bought all new science workbooks as part of this for a grade.

We have budget set aside for teacher appreciation, learning materials, classroom supplies as well as things like assmeblies, field trips, field day, etc.

It's really up to your PTO and by-laws (ours are vague too). We pretty much look at something and if it in someway enriches our kids school experience, then it's a good thing to have (if we can fit it in the budget).

Specifically for teacher appriciation, we rely on parents a lot for that. We just did a mid-year luncheon that had parents bring in items (baked potatoes, soup, plates, napkins, etc) so it keeps our costs to a minumum. But we still have budget set aside to help out with it.

The board (before the school year starts) get's together with the previous years budget and expectations for the next year and "guesses" on what to recommend for the year. It's an educated guess, but still just a guess which I really don't like, but it works for now. Then at the first general meeting of the year, we vote on it with the entire membership.

I am new to our Board and our by-laws are not clear on specific types of expenditures. At our first board meeting (as a new board) we discovered that the previous board had spent $100 a piece on our principal & assistant principal for christmas gifts! The new board curtailed that and any gifts like that now come from the board personally. members need to review their budget very carefully and ask the board what types of expenses may fit under a category.
Bottom line to me is that the type and extent of gifts usually come from the board in place at the time and can be hidden if necessary in a budget line item.

Forgot to tell you how much we spend... we spend around $600.00. Last year we did an afternoon tea with appetizers such as chocolate dipped strawberries, quiche, tea sandwiches, etc with a gift for each staff person. It did, however, take a considerable amount of effort from the volunteers to pull it off at that cost. It also doesn't hurt that we have a parent who is an excellent cook.