Many parents want to say thank you at the official end of the school year, but there are a few guidelines to follow:
No Cash Gifts: All DCPS employees take a DC Ethics Pledge to never accept cash or gifts worth more than $25 dollars from an individual.
Class gifts are OK: Gift cards given collectively from a classroom as a whole are allowed. However, envelopes of cash – even when done collectively as a class- make some teachers and families feel uncomfortable. Instead, we suggest the following options:
- Class-wide Gift Cards: Room parents collect money from parents and then purchase gift cards for teachers.
- Individual small gifts: A family can always choose to give a teacher a small personal gift or gift card (of less than $25 in value). Again, no cash.
Middle School: Middle School students have multiple teachers (Language Art, etc). Room parents for 6th, 7th and 8th grade could collect a general pool of funds from the grade and then distribute across all the teachers.
Room parents in your class or grade will help come up with a plan; please reach out to them to discuss.
