Gift card policy for teachers?

[Anonymous]

I’d like to get some if my high school son’s teachers gift cards.

I don’t want to insult them if this isn’t appropriate and I want to stay within the guidelines of the gift policy.

Is it really a $20 max?
If that’s the case, can I do the $20 with a box of chocolates?

A friend said her child was told she could not give a gift cards to a teacher (it was about $50 though).

I think we’ve done $25 or $30 without a problem in the past.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’d like to get some if my high school son’s teachers gift cards.

I don’t want to insult them if this isn’t appropriate and I want to stay within the guidelines of the gift policy.

Is it really a $20 max?
If that’s the case, can I do the $20 with a box of chocolates?

A friend said her child was told she could not give a gift cards to a teacher (it was about $50 though).

I think we’ve done $25 or $30 without a problem in the past.

We give $50 plus a nice gift. If I could afford to give more I would. I can’t thank the teachers enough for everything they do!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’d like to get some if my high school son’s teachers gift cards.

I don’t want to insult them if this isn’t appropriate and I want to stay within the guidelines of the gift policy.

Is it really a $20 max?
If that’s the case, can I do the $20 with a box of chocolates?

A friend said her child was told she could not give a gift cards to a teacher (it was about $50 though).

I think we’ve done $25 or $30 without a problem in the past.

We give $50 plus a nice gift. If I could afford to give more I would. I can’t thank the teachers enough for everything they do!

Don't forget the rest of the staff who work tirelessly day in and day out! Librarians, maintenance, cafeteria workers, front office staff etx

[Anonymous]

We give $50 and just print out the first card so it doesn’t go to their email. We have never had it turned down.

[Anonymous]

Where do you see there is a $20 max? That’s absurd, I’m planning on giving DD’s teacher more than that because I am grateful for her

[Anonymous]

This is a really good question I’d love to know the answer to. Coming from Massachusetts, public school teachers weren’t allowed to accept gifts worth $50 or more. I assume there’s some kind of limit and would love to know what it is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Where do you see there is a $20 max? That’s absurd, I’m planning on giving DD’s teacher more than that because I am grateful for her

Not sure why that would be absurd. Feds, for example, have a $20 gift limit. Teachers are in a position particularly ripe for impropriety- or, at least, the appearance of impropriety. Surely they must have ethics rules that limit gifts.

[Anonymous]

MCPS ethics rules prohibit the acceptance of gifts over $20 from individuals subject to the authority of the school system. The policy I can find applies to "officials," but presumably there must be something equivalent for teachers. Certainly the same concern would apply to teachers accepting gifts from the parents of their students.

https://ww2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/policy/pdf/bbb.pdf

[Anonymous]

$20 is the max BUT you can do it multiple times a year so do it holidays, teacher appreciation and end of year or just because at another time. If you do $25 it's ok, but $50 gets questionable.

[Anonymous]

This says the $20 max applies to teachers too:

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/bulletin/article.aspx?id=270583

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This says the $20 max applies to teachers too:

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/bulletin/article.aspx?id=270583

Yeah. Perhaps more formally, the MCPS employee code of conduct refers to the gift provisions in the ethics policy, so that pretty clearly establishes a $20 max on gifts to teachers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:$20 is the max BUT you can do it multiple times a year so do it holidays, teacher appreciation and end of year or just because at another time. If you do $25 it's ok, but $50 gets questionable.

What happens when the teachers fill out their financial disclosure statements and list the gifts >$20 they receive? Do they have to give the gifts back, or do they go into some common fund?

[Anonymous]

Good! I'm glad somebody has reined this in

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Good! I'm glad somebody has reined this in

Ahh, yes, because MCPS is well-known for holding teachers accountable to follow their employment rules...

[Anonymous]

OP here - ok so if I stick to $20 max on gift card, could we give chocolates too?

I think I did $25 or $30 last year without an issue but I don’t want to risk it. Seems embarrassing if it was turned down or if teacher got in trouble. I’ll just gift again later.