Community Chat

[CelticCrafter]

$208 to supply only the classroom x's how many students in the class?  That's a bit much to expect from parents who will then have to buy all the personal supplies for their own kid.

[millieshops]

@I am still oxoxLast night I walked to Dollar Tree and was surprised to see the big back-to-school signs in the window - graduation in this town had been exactly 2 weeks ago.

Of course,, when I walked inside I realized I'm really behind the times -  there were already Halloween items on some of the entry display shelves!

[San Antonio Gal]

I purchased back to school items last school year for my 2 grandchildren (kindergarten and 2nd grade) and yes, there were a lot of items required.  This included lysol wipes, hand sanitizer, paper towels, etc.

[deepwaterdotter]

---

@Sooner wrote:

These lists are totally out of control.  And yes, expensive things!

Those lists make me wonder when I hear about underfunded education, just what are they spending money on?  I cannot imagine how on earth any kid needs the extensive array of markers and colored pencils and colored paper and on and on that these lists have.  

And scissors?  What do they do?  Throw it all away at the end of the year?  

---

I remember my mother gathering up all our supplies at the end of the schoolyear and keeping them for the following September.  We would reuse supplies in good condition, either for ourselves or a younger sibling.  I grew up in what would be considered a 'lower-class' neighborhood, so I think most of the families did the same thing.  Somehow we muddled through.

[Sooner]

Schools here were out in mid-May or before.  Colleges and common schools.  They will start in early August. 

[lilypadfrog]

I remember being told to bring two #2 pencils to school.  The school supplied everything else, from books to paper.  Yes, it was 60 years ago but I think the supplies list is too extensive.

[Sooner]

I had to give paper (a sheet at a time) and loan a pencil to several kids who came with nothing.  Sometimes without coats or even shoes. 

[haddon9]

---

@I am still oxox wrote:

Back to school? It is July 7 school here ended about 2 1/2 weeks ago

---

Same here.  Kids in my local school district don't go back until after Labor day.

As for supplies I really don't know if familes are supposed to provide basics like classroom cleaning items, I would think the schools would here....it's not a poor district and we pay a lot in school taxes! 

[stevieb]

---

@CelticCrafter wrote:

$208 to supply only the classroom x's how many students in the class?  That's a bit much to expect from parents who will then have to buy all the personal supplies for their own kid.

---

It really is... On top of the fact that the bulk of tax dollars collected in many jurisdictions go directly to support the local school system... I can, perhaps, see contributing something to the 'common good' of the classroom, on top of what one has already paid in taxes and fees, and will pay for their own children's supplies but I can't see being mandated to do so, right down to being told what and how many... $200 bucks per kid seems like an awful lot of Handi Wipes and glue sticks...

[SahmIam]

My answer regards MY school district:

* Lists come out on the last day of school for Fall. They are including in an email to parents from the Principal wishing everyone a nice summer. Usually Walmart will have them in specific location when they set up their school supply aisle in August.

* The lists are the SAME for the specific grade no matter what school you go to. However, the lists CHANGE via each grade level. So, what you buy for a 2nd grader will differ from the 1st, 3rd, 4th and 5th. Same with middle school and highschool.  In highschool, the list has add-ons depending on the track your child is in (general, Honors, Honors STEM, etc),.

* ALL grades include extras such as papertowels, tissues, hand sanitizer, etc.

* The number of items includes what your child will use PLUS AN EXTRA AMOUNT for the school supply closet. Example: your list may say 10 gluesticks. This means that every child in the 4th grade will bring in 10 gluesticks. In my sons' school, that meant that there were 1000 glue sticks provided by the 5th grade (25 students in each class x 5 5th grade classes).  Same with notebooks, folders, pens, pencils, etc. Understand that you can see the class list for all grades with the handout. So my sons' school received 7000 glue sticks when he was in 5th grade (if everyone brought in their share). ALL supplies are due in the day before or day of the first day of school.

What happens to left over supplies? The teachers divide them up and take them home. 

The gathering of supplies has caused MAJOR issues in my county; the richest in my state. When you see what a parent is paying for 1 child and they have 3 and they are EXPECTED to bring ALL of the supplies for each child into the school and THEN are asked to BRING IN MORE halfway through......yeah, it's a MAJOR issue.

This plays out more so in elementary than middle and high. However, high school brings a whole new element with required tablets, laptops and calculators.