Tips on what to put in the teacher's stocking

Make something: Bake cookies or cupcakes, send a handwritten note, make a card.

Give a classroom gift: Books, supplies and classroom materials.

Donate to the district's educational fund.

Create a classroom scrapbook or photo album.

Give the gift of time: Volunteer in the classroom.

Source: National Education Association.

NORTH ANDOVER — Just in time for holidays, the North Andover School Committee has placed a limit on gifts that can be given to public school teachers.

It used to be that teachers received an apple pin or a "World's Best Teacher" mug.

But more recently parents have taken to giving out gift cards, trips to the spa, gourmet food baskets — sometimes even cash — to show appreciation for their children's educators.

Under a new policy approved by the committee last week, school personnel are prohibited from accepting personal gifts from a parent, or group of parents, that total more than $50 over the course of a school year. They're instead encouraging homemade gifts or donations for classroom supplies and programs.

The rule is in line with the state conflict-of-interest law.

"We needed to create a gift policy because out of the goodness of their hearts, parents wanted to recognize teachers, sometimes doing it monetarily, beyond what state ethics allows," said Superintendent James Marini. "This is not to deprive teachers of gifts."

Marini said many parents were resorting to group gifts, where a designated "room parent" collects cash and the gift is accompanied by a card with each parent's name.

But those gifts were running up substantial price tags.

"Room parents were asking questions," Marini said. "We wanted to give proper guidance."

School districts across the state, such as Newton and Needham, have enacted similar policies. The hope is the new policy will prevent feelings of inequity and concerns about favoritism.

Expensive gifts can be misinterpreted and end up putting teachers in a tight spot.

"It can make a teacher uncomfortable," committee member Stan Limpert said.

School Committee members are instead encouraging parents to give gifts toward the classroom if they want to be big spenders. There's also donations to school support organizations such as PTOs and boosters and scholarship funds.

And a lot of teachers have wish lists - books, pencils and other supplies that are not paid for through the school budget.

Many teachers dig into their own pockets to stock up the classroom supply cabinet.

"One of my children had a teacher that got married. She had a list of books she wanted for the classroom. Parents bought them and the kids signed them all," School Committee member Christopher Nobile said. "It was real personalized."

The School Committee will revisit the policy after the holidays to see how it went.

Marini said some of the best presents are the cheap ones.

"Thank you cards, children's homemade presents ... Those mean the most to teachers," he said. "Those are lasting memories."

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