Ours is: $75 per semester to classroom teachers, $50 per semester for all other teachers such as PE, Music, etc.
We don't have a Staples in our area. Is there any other stores that are doing something similar?

Yes we do fieldtrips and almost all enrichment programs. If PTA doesn't provide the kids don't get. In the past school would cover transportation of field trips --but this year budget so tight that we will be picking that up too!

For the past two years, our allocation per classroom teacher has been $90, including "specials" like gym and music and the secretaries. We do it based on reimbursement - when a teacher has enough receipts, she turns them in and we write one check.

We don't do grants - never thought it was our place to decide if a teacher's request was valid. But, we do have a couple of funds the principal can spend as he and the staff see fit. We don't question - just write the checks, but there's a set budget amount so the expenditures don't get out of hand. Last year, we had a large fundraising surplus and the principal decided to allocate another $500 to each grade level. The teachers in each grade decided as a group how to spend their money.

Our PTO gives $300 to each teacher for field trips and $150 for supplies. Plus, we buy certain "request" items. For example, this year the principal requested two-way radios for the janitors and office staff to communicate. This was for security reasons, in case someone "strange" enters the building.

Pals, we do not do Field Trips. That is up to our SBDM. Also our Family Resource Center pays the field trip fee for students who can't afford it. Our FRC also provides school supplies, clothes, and other services to financially underprivaliged students. I have read on here that some parent groups do this. It really shocked me. Our PTO is there for the fun stuff and to help the teachers out with supplies.

I think an early fall fundraiser would do better. The only fundraiser we could pull off that much toward Christmas would be a Holiday Shop. But we are a high level poverty area.

Just curious...do any of you also do fieldtrip funding? This past year we did fieldtrip money and it turned out to be a huge expense. We do get supplies for less fornunate students and each teacher gets a pretty good supply of student supplies so that they arent covering it with their own money.We also keep more on hand throughout the year. We are only 22 months old and our old pta just fundraised and we are the opposite(3 fundraisers) so we are just finding it hard, what is more important as we couldnt do the 100.00 per class for supplies and the fieldtrip thing.We are having a early fall fundraiser this year which is a new thing so we are hoping that helps get funds up...we usually wait until the end of November.Maybe parents will be more oriented to buying the first month of school???