The Battle Of The Box Tops
I’ve written about the Box Tops For Education program before. I think it’s a great program and a great way for schools to earn money.
My son goes to a private school. They do a great job teaching the students, and trying to make sure the student’s needs are addressed, including health and dietary. A year or so ago the school went so far as to completely renovate the kitchen, and since have gone gluten-free, nut-free, you name it it’s that-free. And I think that’s great. It’s important for kids that have dietary issues like my son.
Before I go further I will say that I adore my son’s teacher and know that this school is absolutely the right place for my son to be. This post is not about that. This post is about fundraising.
At the beginning of the school year I asked why we were not participating in the Box Tops For Education program. I was told that the power that be, aka the man in charge, had said we should not participate in the program because the foods involved didn’t fit the healthy diet the school now served. I presented them with a list of all of the products that qualify for the program, which includes a number of things that are not food. I also reminded them that the majority of families didn’t have the dietary requirements and might well be using these foods. Hell, we do have dietary issues in our house (my son has Celiac disease) and we use a lot of them. I explained that each box top represented money. If our families were using the products we should be saving the Box Tops and getting the money for the school. It is not our job to police what people are feeding their families. In November I asked for the decision to be considered again.
Well, we had this month’s PTO meeting a few days ago. I was told in no uncertain terms that we could not participate in the program. No, wipe the hands of it, no. I courteously expressed my feelings that the decision made no sense and the meeting went on. Not fifteen minutes later we were asked for a lot of money for a project. Now I need to go on the record, the projects that the staff want to do for the kids are needed, very much needed. I am happy to help the school raise money, whether it be through a candle sale, a gift auction or just a donation. But how do they have the gall, no the balls, to tell me that we can’t accept free money (which is basically what Box Tops are) and ask us to spend a decent chunk of the money we’ve raised all in the same breath?!
I was curious if any of you have ever encountered a problem like this, and how you dealt with it.
This post is not sponsored in any way. I have received no payment or product for it. It is simply my own opinion about a real situation. As always, my opinions are my own and not influenced by anyone.
Category: Me And Mine
About the Author (Author Profile)
NJ Mom of 2 boys. Social media enthusiast. Blogger. Freelance marketing. I lLove cats. Ds Advocate. Listening to Hinder, P Roach & Rev Theory and lots of Oleander.
My name is Valerie, but I go by valmg online.
I am a mother to 2 boys – TJ, a 17 year old, and CJ, a 13 year old with Down Syndrome.
I am a Jersey girl. I have three younger brothers, all of whom have children.
I HATE the misuse of the word retarded. I take it personally and find it very offensive.
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I used to teach at a private school and the principal felt the same as your principal, which I thought was dumb. I spent a lot of my salary buying basics for my classroom and could really have used this!
The teachers can use this, the whole situation really aggravates me.
I don’t know what to say. But you should look into the Scrips program.
http://www.shopwithscrip.com/
My school does it – and it helps us alleviate book fees. You purchase gift cards to various retailers and a percent goes back to the school. From restaurants to Amazon!
But we also do Box Tops.
That doesn’t make sense at all. I know for our family, I’m not going to go out of my way to buy things we don’t use, but if they already buy and use them, why not receive that money?
Exactly the way I look at it.
WOW, that is totally insane and makes no sense. My kids go to public school and they do participate in the box tops programs so I have never run into this siaution but if I did I would be angry especially if they were asking me for money.
To be fair they asked the PTO, not the parents directly. As the president of the PTO I am rather angry that they have no problem asking to spend money we’re raising for them but won’t let us raise more in an easy, passive way.
I enrolled in the Target thing while my adult sons were still in middle school. Local schools benefitted.
I think this particular special needs school though great is quite silly. Clean honest money is just that.
I thought they were involved so I clipped my coupons. I’ll send them elsewhere where they can be used and appreciated.
i actually think it’s great the school isn’t participating, for a totally different reason. i don’t think schools should be giving the box tops program the amount of advertising it gets all year round for the amount of money the school raises from the box tops.
if you’re interested there is more about commercial-free schools at commercialfreechildhood.org.
I am not a fan of selling overpriced things for fundraising, such as wrapping paper. People use these products at home, no additional sales are involved. It makes no sense to not get money from the Box Tops, I don’t consider it inappropriate at all. Thanks for visiting and reading.
Wow, that’s kind of insane. You might also mention that parents with Target credit cards can also sign up to have a percentage of purchases go towards their box tops fund. It’s something I do (in addition to well over $100 a year in box tops clipped) and our school is getting over 10k in credit card points. They are seriously missing out on money for the kids!
Cat, the parents do know about the Target card thing, that didn’t require anything to be done by the school so I didn’t have to go through anyone else. Thanks for the suggestion!
I wonder if there is any other reason that they do not participate. It’s stupid not to. It’s pretty much free money. Families, extended families, neighbors, etc. buy those products. The man in charge is essentially throwing away money. How irresponsible!
I don’t believe there is, other then the man’s mistaken impression that by participating in the program you’re suggesting the school recommends those foods to all students which is not what happens. It’s crazy.
That does seem absolutely ridiculous. It’s not like the families are going to stop purchasing the items they’re already purchasing. The school is just choosing not to accept free money.
Exactly the way I look at it!