We give gifts to staff members twice a year. Custodians, office staff, principal and our lunch aids all receive gifts just before the holiday break and again at the end of the school year. We budget the money in and provide gift cards to everyone.

Small tokens of appreciation I think are totaly acceptable. However, I do feel there is a limit. If you are talking a dinner, or something substantial, why not take up a collection of the board/members and do it personally, rather than use the pto money. Check with your by-laws. If it has a monitary limit for gifts, or a vote needs to be taken, stick with that. No sense in setting off the radar of a few unhappy people....

I would place this under the same as staff appreciation...it isnt like you are buying him a car or something that big!

I am not Tim, however, our principal left at the end of this school year to move to another state.

I worked with our incoming prinicpal who is a teacher at our school. Together we had the classes make up individual good luck letters or cards to our principal. I googled and found a cute good-bye letter and tweeked it to fit our circumstance. I then printed it on pretty paper and put it in a cheap beveled frame from the dollar store.

The cards were no cost, I had the paper already and the frame was $2. I purchased the frame myself. Students can make cards for any event, and you can always find a suitable poem to fit about any situation.

A no cost gift that brought tears to her eyes. She loved it!

this is to Tim--how can you give a gift to the principle if you are non profit. my advisors tell me you can't but I find this hard to handle?

Suggestions??

ptmom