- William Gould Vinal Elementary School
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Norwell Schools Gift Policy
Norwell Schools Gift Policy
Norwell families have been generous and thoughtful in past years in their attempts to recognize the efforts of the school staff. Our goal in providing gift-giving recommendations is to assist teachers and staff in their compliance with the law and prevent embarrassing situations (e.g., teacher returning a gift).
According to the MA State Ethics Commission, teachers and other public employees may not accept personal gifts and gratuities of “substantial value” (defined as $50.00 or more) from an individual within a 365-day period. Gifts under the $50.00 limit will still require a teacher to file a disclosure if, based on the circumstances, a reasonable person would think that the teacher might unduly show favor to the giver or the giver’s child because of the gift.
Teachers are allowed to accept personal class gifts valued up to a maximum of $150.00 per year from current students and/or families as long as the gift is identified only as being from the class, and the identity of givers and amounts given are not identified to the recipient. The teacher may not knowingly accept any additional gift from the parents who participated in the class gift.
A gift given to a teacher to use solely in the classroom or to buy classroom supplies is not considered a gift to the teacher personally, and is, therefore, not subject to the $50 individual limit or $150 classroom limit on personal gifts to teachers. A teacher who receives such a gift must keep receipts documenting that the money was used for classroom supplies.
For a teacher's benefit, parents who wish to give a gift to a teacher to use solely in the classroom or to buy classroom supplies are encouraged to make a restricted gift to the Vinal PTO in that teacher's name. The PTO will assure the funds are spent by that teacher in accordance with the law, and will retain all receipts and records on behalf of that teacher for bookkeeping purposes.
If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to contact the Vinal PTO at vinalpto@gmail.com.