Gift card policy for teachers?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

Do the chocolates have a cash value of more than $0? If so, then that would violate the gift policy.

She could have the gift card be Christmas and the chocolates be for winter solstice. You can give it five times a year.

I guess if you give them at different times that works. Kind of defeats the purpose of ethics rules and tarnishes the reputation of teachers, but you do you.

Given that the amount hasn't increased since 2012, if I were one to try to technically follow the ethics rules, I'd give $50 over 3 days. But I always just print out a $50 gift card and have my kid bring it in, so there is no record over email that the teacher got more than $20 in a single card.

Given that “gifts” aren’t supposed to be part of a teacher’s compensation, the concept of a COLA doesn’t apply.

I don’t know what’s worse: you refusing to treat your kids’ teachers as professionals, or your kids’ teachers flagrantly ignoring their ethics rules.

+1 My mother was a teacher. Some of her favorite student gifts were inexpensive. I remember one hand-painted Christmas ornament clearly made by a kid that she put on the tree for at least 20 years afterward.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

Do the chocolates have a cash value of more than $0? If so, then that would violate the gift policy.

She could have the gift card be Christmas and the chocolates be for winter solstice. You can give it five times a year.

I guess if you give them at different times that works. Kind of defeats the purpose of ethics rules and tarnishes the reputation of teachers, but you do you.

Given that the amount hasn't increased since 2012, if I were one to try to technically follow the ethics rules, I'd give $50 over 3 days. But I always just print out a $50 gift card and have my kid bring it in, so there is no record over email that the teacher got more than $20 in a single card.

Given that “gifts” aren’t supposed to be part of a teacher’s compensation, the concept of a COLA doesn’t apply.

I don’t know what’s worse: you refusing to treat your kids’ teachers as professionals, or your kids’ teachers flagrantly ignoring their ethics rules.

Oh yeah, how terrible to give A teacher who is spending hundreds of her own dollars in a supplies a $50 gift card to Amazon to thank her. Just terrible.

Then raise money to buy school/classroom supplies. That has its own ethical dilemmas (e.g., think of poor vs. rich schools), but it doesn’t create an ethical problem for the teacher themselves.

According to MCPS ethics rules, a teacher technically can be fired for taking a gift over $20. I've never heard of it happening, but that doesn't mean it's not a tough ethical problem for the teacher when parents ignore the rule.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So how many of these denominations of 20 do you give over the year?

It depends how much extra “goodwill” my kids’ grades need.

The limit under MCPS policy is $100 per calendar year. If you don't think it's going to get your kid a better grade, why are you interested in giving the biggest gift possible?

If you want to help the school with supplies that MCPS doesn't provide, you can help the school by donating to the PTSA. There's no dollar limit on that donation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

Do the chocolates have a cash value of more than $0? If so, then that would violate the gift policy.

She could have the gift card be Christmas and the chocolates be for winter solstice. You can give it five times a year.

I guess if you give them at different times that works. Kind of defeats the purpose of ethics rules and tarnishes the reputation of teachers, but you do you.

Given that the amount hasn't increased since 2012, if I were one to try to technically follow the ethics rules, I'd give $50 over 3 days. But I always just print out a $50 gift card and have my kid bring it in, so there is no record over email that the teacher got more than $20 in a single card.

Given that “gifts” aren’t supposed to be part of a teacher’s compensation, the concept of a COLA doesn’t apply.

I don’t know what’s worse: you refusing to treat your kids’ teachers as professionals, or your kids’ teachers flagrantly ignoring their ethics rules.

Oh yeah, how terrible to give A teacher who is spending hundreds of her own dollars in a supplies a $50 gift card to Amazon to thank her. Just terrible.

Then raise money to buy school/classroom supplies. That has its own ethical dilemmas (e.g., think of poor vs. rich schools), but it doesn’t create an ethical problem for the teacher themselves.

That doesn’t make sense if we believe that teachers are handing out unearned good grades to kids from generous families. If a family gives $200 in supplies to the classroom, wouldn’t you also suspect their child gets favoritism? After all, that’s $200 less out of the teachers’ own pocket. And we here on DCUM believe that teachers are too dumb to know how to grade without showing favoritism to kids who gave any type of holiday gift.

Just like political contributions don't influence politicians. Let's get rid of what few campaign finance laws are still around.

Classroom gifts don’t directly benefit the teacher.

They do if the teacher would otherwise buy them out of pocket, which most would.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So how many of these denominations of 20 do you give over the year?

It depends how much extra “goodwill” my kids’ grades need.

The limit under MCPS policy is $100 per calendar year. If you don't think it's going to get your kid a better grade, why are you interested in giving the biggest gift possible?

If you want to help the school with supplies that MCPS doesn't provide, you can help the school by donating to the PTSA. There's no dollar limit on that donation.

How would that help me?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

Do the chocolates have a cash value of more than $0? If so, then that would violate the gift policy.

She could have the gift card be Christmas and the chocolates be for winter solstice. You can give it five times a year.

I guess if you give them at different times that works. Kind of defeats the purpose of ethics rules and tarnishes the reputation of teachers, but you do you.

Given that the amount hasn't increased since 2012, if I were one to try to technically follow the ethics rules, I'd give $50 over 3 days. But I always just print out a $50 gift card and have my kid bring it in, so there is no record over email that the teacher got more than $20 in a single card.

Given that “gifts” aren’t supposed to be part of a teacher’s compensation, the concept of a COLA doesn’t apply.

I don’t know what’s worse: you refusing to treat your kids’ teachers as professionals, or your kids’ teachers flagrantly ignoring their ethics rules.

Oh yeah, how terrible to give A teacher who is spending hundreds of her own dollars in a supplies a $50 gift card to Amazon to thank her. Just terrible.

Then raise money to buy school/classroom supplies. That has its own ethical dilemmas (e.g., think of poor vs. rich schools), but it doesn’t create an ethical problem for the teacher themselves.

That doesn’t make sense if we believe that teachers are handing out unearned good grades to kids from generous families. If a family gives $200 in supplies to the classroom, wouldn’t you also suspect their child gets favoritism? After all, that’s $200 less out of the teachers’ own pocket. And we here on DCUM believe that teachers are too dumb to know how to grade without showing favoritism to kids who gave any type of holiday gift.

Just like political contributions don't influence politicians. Let's get rid of what few campaign finance laws are still around.

Classroom gifts don’t directly benefit the teacher.

They do if the teacher would otherwise buy them out of pocket, which most would.

It depends on the teacher. There is a limit to what most teachers are willing to spend for basic supplies, which I agree they should not have to do! In one newsletter we were told what parents could donate if they wish. One item was tissues. I asked my 6yo if there were boxes of tissues in his classroom and he said no, they'd go to the bathrooms to get paper towels. So I sent a few boxes in.

It's ridiculous that MCPS got all the covid money and can't even supply their teachers with tissues, but I digress....

As to the gift rules, I adhere to them because I am also a public sector employee who is subject to similar policies. I don't want to put any teacher in a tough spot. We also contribute to the broader staff fund, and there isn't any limit to what we contribute to that IIRC.

[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.

Folks, give as you wish. You claim to be generous, KIND, and blah blah. Show love to your teachers that put up with your brat children. Greatly appreciate it!

[Anonymous]

I think there should be a separate thread for teachers to list the oddest things they ever received... you know, just as a guide as to what not to give. Like weird satin nightdresses.

Once someone gave me an e-reader or some type of tablet or something, and I had to contact the parent and say I really couldn't accept it. In retrospect maybe I should have made it a classroom device? But it was a good 10 years ago or so, and electronics weren't as all-pervasive in middle schools as they are now, so it didn't really make sense.

The best gift cards are anything that can be used for a wide range of purchases (Target, Amazon), or very specific ones that will definitely be used (gas station, say, rather than a movie theater).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

I think no one will get in any trouble for that. Go ahead

[Anonymous]

You can give $20 and then give $10,000 or whatever for the school-wide collection and the PTA launders the money and doles it out to teachers and staff

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You can give $20 and then give $10,000 or whatever for the school-wide collection and the PTA launders the money and doles it out to teachers and staff

The $20 limit applies to gifts from organizations, too.

[Anonymous]

We do $100 gift cards for our kids’ mcps teachers

[Anonymous]

Instead of violating ethics rules, why not just use that money to make classroom or school donations? Our teacher often requests backup snacks, supplies, etc. it

The rules exist for a reason. Large gifts raise ethical and fairness concerns. They can also make some teachers feel uncomfortable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, $25 or$30 is fine. Nobody is going to audit a teacher over gift cards.

They’re just ethics rules in the employment agreement, after all.

You can be as cheap as you want and call it ethical, but these teachers are doing so much for so little already. I'll be sending $50 Starbucks cards.

Do you hear yourself? $50 of Starbucks? Okay, capitalistic slave.

Jfc, give $50 to Target or Walmart. At least they can buy groceries and not a Danish and Banana with 400% markup.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can give $20 and then give $10,000 or whatever for the school-wide collection and the PTA launders the money and doles it out to teachers and staff

The $20 limit applies to gifts from organizations, too.

At our school, it is a couple of parents that organize, and not the PTA. Reading this thread, I'm not entirely sure if that is in the rules but no one has ever questioned it. I mean, it typically works out to something like a $50 gift per staff member, nothing crazy.