Hoping to keep its teachers out of compromising positions, the Boulder Valley (Colo.) school district has told its educators not to take any gifts worth more than $25.

It seems that when parents and students gave their teachers presents at the end of a year, or to cap off a great performance, some went over the line -- way over the line.

While many gave flowers or coffee shop gift cards, some gave open-ended plane tickets and free condominium stays in Vail, the Boulder Daily Camera reports:

District officials said that although gifts often come "from a generous and warm place," they want to eliminate potentially inappropriate giving for three main reasons: the chance for impropriety; the creation of inequities among schools and departments; and potential tax implications "given the high financial value of some of the gifts discovered."

Said superintendent Chris King, "We have had a policy around gifts for many years, but it's been largely ignored. When we studied this last year, we found gifts that were far in excess of ($25). That blurred the lines of professional practice."

(Image from Delawareonline.com)

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