Back to school *vent*

[Mouse House Mama]

Just out of curiosity because it's been a while since I had a child in elementary school - do parents today complain as much about the money they spend on sports and the required equipment as they do about buying the supplies needed for their children to use in school?

See here's the thing- sports are optional. So not every parent has to have their kid participate. You pay to be in the league etc. School is not like that. You have to participate whether you agree with the list or not. Of course I buy everything my kids need for school with no real complaint but I do find it ridiculous that I pay super high school taxes and the school provides nothing. I don't blame the teachers at all. They are working with the same budget issues. I blame our Board of Education for not managing the money better. Other districts can afford to give every student all of their school supplies. Other districts give the kids laptops! I live in a very good district and yet we have to provide things like tissues. Come on! That is insane. With our taxes the kids should have valets in the bathrooms.

 

[defendthehill]

In my sophomore history class here is what I require:

Pen/Pencil/Paper

Here is what I suggest:

Three Ring Binder

I do, one time per year, ask kids/families to bring in one box of tissue....some do some don't but I always get enough to last for a year.

Anything else students may want is just that....a want. You want nice clean colored pencils....then you choose to get them. I have a large box of old crayons from my own kids stash.

I do have three elementary age kids.....and in all honesty....I think the lists can be a bit excessive. I will gladly buy it if they need it...I guess the ultra specific items bug me a bit..because I see those a just being a teacher preference thing. Black ink pens....not blue for example. Or like the white eraser instead of pink.

 

[MSSANDRA]

Did not have time to read the entire thread but wanted to share a few thoughts. Most teachers really want your child to have what they need to function in the classroom. Most teachers have or have had children in school and are aware of the cost of getting a child ready for school. If a child's parents do not provide the requested item, many teachers buy extra and supply the child with them. My sisiter teaches in a low income area of a otherwise higher income district and she budgets an amount(hundreds of $$$) to buy supplies for her children that come with nothing.

I agree that most items can be bought on sale right now. We always buy extra as we often need more as the year goes on.

One thought is that if you really can not afford the entire list is to ask which supplies are for your child and which are for general classroom use. Of course I believe in helping others but if you truely can not do that, at least try to cover your child.

Often there are ways around buying supplies if you turely can not. School will lend calculators to take home for the year, there are drives that give out school supplies to needy children. However I think that is not the case in most situations here.

If you really want to keep the cost down, shop without your child. Buy the plain notebooks , pencils etc instead of the pretty ones.

DS is in high school and will not get his list till open house so the sales are often done by then.Oh well. will bite the bullet and get him what he needs!

 

[luvmy3]

OP, your list looks pretty typical to the BTS lists here. My dd is going into 7th this year and I haven't recieved her list yet but I don't think anything on it will be a surprise. I only have one complaint about the lists- when the teacher requests a specific item that is impossible to find. Last year for first grade my ds needed 2 things that I couldn't find in any stores so I had to order online.

 

[Vijoge]

What galls me are the supplies that exist nowhere in the universe, like the packages of 7 3/16" x 2 12/13" puce and ecru Post-its. After trips to Office Max, Target, Staples, and local stationery stores, I think they should provide the teacher's home phone number so we can invite him or her to accompany us on our shopping trips.

Good idea! I just checked the 3M site and post-its don't come in that size!

 

[UnderTheMistletoe]

As a 7th grade teacher, that seems right up to par. I don't know if she was in 6th grade in an elementary school setting or 6th grade in a middle school setting, but she's going into a completely departmentalized education now.

And, as a teacher, your kids needs to have their own supplies because if they don't, it's coming out of my pocket. Did you know that teachers spend an average of $1200 of their own money each year on supplies for the classroom and individual students? That new teacher will spend an average of $775 of their first paycheck (before it's been earned) on purchasing needed supplies? Just food for thought....

 

[Vijoge]

I've already purchased the supplie my granddaughter will be need when school starts next month. For the most part, I don't think the lists are too unreasonable and I admit to spending more than necessary because I buy them cool (and therefore more costly) bookbags and stuff like that. Target had some great deals-Crayola crayons for .24, Crayola markers for .97, etc.

What irks me are the classroom supplies on the list, such as six boxes of kleenex, four rolls of paper towels, 3 wet-ones, etc, and a ream of copy paper. I know the reason they ask for so much of this stuff is because a lot of kids don't bring any. I realize there are many people who can't afford to buy it BUT I also know that the University across the street from my granddaughter's school has a back- to -school fair where they give out these supplies for free to anyone who needs them. So if anyone at her school doesn't have their required supplies it's because mom or dad was just to lazy to show up to get them and I'm not going to purchase what they could have received for free!

There's no way I'm sending her the first day of school with 48 sharpened pencils or ten large glue sicks that she'll never see again.

 

[Vijoge]

At least you GOT your list while all the sales are still going on!! We won't get our list until the first day of school which is the day after Labor Day and all the sales will be long over and most of the items will be out of stock.

Dang, that's rough. My girls came home the last day of school with their lists and the lists were posted on the school's website the same day. I love school shopping, really I do, but I sure wouldn't want to have to try to find all that stuff the first day of school.

 

[KKB]

Public school districts CANNOT by law require students to bring supplies...if a student cannot afford them (or chooses not to buy them...), the district MUST supply them with pencils, paper & the like. (not color coordinated binders in specific sizes & colors--OMG that school has GOT to have far better things to worry about!!!)
NYCDiane--I would write a letter to the school board requesting lists BEFORE school starts...and that perhaps reasonable items (WHO CARES specific sizes...give me a break...hey, and I was a classroom teacher for 20 years!) Tell them why ($ talks!)...you might be surprised at the result! Squeaky wheel gets the grease in our district!

 

[Vijoge]

-- its all the school fees that Illinois has on top of it that kills me -- we are paying over $1000 for 3 kids fees this year (2 in HS and 1 in JH)!!

Oh, my, where do you live? My girls are in JH and ES and their fees are $45 and $25 respectively.

Even in high school (I was floored by your charges so I looked it up) the fees here are:
$160 Full-time school fee
100 Parking permit
50 sport fee to a max of $100 per student
25 participation fee to a max of $100 per student
25 activity fee
250 Driver's ed

Only the one's bolded are required-the rest is optional depending on the students interests.

Of course, if you have a 16 y/o who plays football and runs track and is itching to get his driver's license it's an entirely different story because then you'll be looking at a whopping $735

 

[Tink-n-MrIncredible]

Our list is very resonable and the school puts what supplies are shared, and what supplies are individual. I often buy 'extras' for the teacher when I find them at a good deal. I'd like if the teacher sent a 'wish list' as well. Things she often runs out of, or things she could use with in the classroom. And I wish they would state that they would take partially used supplies for community use. I wouldn't mind them taking all the half used glue sticks that came home 2 months ago from 3rd grade. Or the gallon sized baggie of used crayons. So much waste.

I just cleaned out my school supplies (crayons collected from the past years, slightly used glue sticks, fiscar scissors, etc.). I brought them to my childrens old elementary school and the pre-k and k teachers were excited to get them. I also went through their books (from Scholastic orders) and donated them as well. I'm sure if you bring any of these to a local school someone would be happy to get them.

 

[figment3258]

Wow I was just reading this post and I am shocked on how much the school systems wants you to buy I guess i am just really blessed that we home school and i don't need to worry about that.

But just on a side note if you are having trouble affording the supplies I attend a christian church in MA and we do a backpack outreach program every year so you can always go to your local church for help just a thought.

 

[taylor3297]

Public school districts CANNOT by law require students to bring supplies...if a student cannot afford them (or chooses not to buy them...), the district MUST supply them with pencils, paper & the like. (not color coordinated binders in specific sizes & colors--OMG that school has GOT to have far better things to worry about!!!)
NYCDiane--I would write a letter to the school board requesting lists BEFORE school starts...and that perhaps reasonable items (WHO CARES specific sizes...give me a break...hey, and I was a classroom teacher for 20 years!) Tell them why ($ talks!)...you might be surprised at the result! Squeaky wheel gets the grease in our district!

Is this a federal law or a state law. I taught for 20 years in 2 different states and was never made aware of a law of this nature. We weren't allowed enforce whether the child had the "extra" items on the list like particular calculator or a special size notebook. We were allowed to enforce whether the student brought paper and pencil. For students who could not afford paper and pencils, those student received paper and pencils that were donated to the school by various businesses. The school was not requried to purchase paper and pencils for these students.

 

[Vijoge]

This is a tough one. With the economy the way it is school are losing funding hand over fist and teachers are losing pay (I am taking a 17% pay cut this year).

As a teacher I get $40 a year for classroom supplies. If I don't ask parents to cover their childs supplies who is supposed to pay for them - ME?

Editing mine. We haven't had much financial siccess lately either. Neither of us has had a raise in three years and DH took a fairly major pay cut last year so I can sympathize.

I think I would respond to the whole classroom supply thing better if the teacher was to simply send me an email saying something like

" Dear Parents,
We are in need of the following classroom supplies because the school doesn't provide them (or whatever-don't want the teacher to be in hot water for blaming the powers that be). This is what we need and anything you can provide to help out will be appreciated.
Sincerely, Teacher"

 

[MM27]

In my district we are allowed to give a list of recommended items, but we can't say that they have to bring them. Unfortunately, we don't get our class lists until the day before school starts, so it's impossible to give lists out ahead of time. I usually tell the kids on the first day to make sure they have pencils (I don't allow mechanical ones in my classroom though), markers or colored pencils if they want them and a few folders/notebooks for some of their specials classes. I teach in an urban area where many of the kids don't bring in supplies. I spend a lot of my own money every year on things, so I appreciate when stores have good sales and I buy as much as I can. I just went to Target a few days ago and stocked up on crayons and spiral notebooks. Throughout the year I stock up on tissues and things for the class use, and every once in a while I will get a parent that sends those things in too. I just take it as part of teaching in a poorer area. It's nice to get those things, but I don't expect anything.

 

[Vijoge]

To all elementary school teachers on this thread:

Which would you prefer-a large box of school supplies (crayons, markers, colored pencils, paper, folders, scissors,erasers, kleenex, bandaids, etc) or $100 to use as you see fit?

 

[Pigeon]

Editing mine. We haven't had much financial siccess lately either. Neither of us has had a raise in three years and DH took a fairly major pay cut last year so I can sympathize.

I think I would respond to the whole classroom supply thing better if the teacher was to simply send me an email saying something like

" Dear Parents,
We are in need of the following classroom supplies because the school doesn't provide them (or whatever-don't want the teacher to be in hot water for blaming the powers that be). This is what we need and anything you can provide to help out will be appreciated.
Sincerely, Teacher"

One of my child's elementary teachers had a basket of slips with school supply/craft items written on each slip. At back to school night, she would tell the parents about the basket and say that if they were interested in donating to the class, they could take a slip.

Now, this was in addition to the standard school supplies each child needed, but it was entirely voluntary.

I thought that was brilliant. All the slips were taken, with most of us taking several. The key thing was that you could choose what to buy (so if I don't hang out at craft stores, I could buy stuff I would easily find at Target, whereas the craftier people might already have some stuff). And the teacher got what she needed for her projects.

 

[Pigeon]

Did not have time to read the entire thread but wanted to share a few thoughts. Most teachers really want your child to have what they need to function in the classroom. Most teachers have or have had children in school and are aware of the cost of getting a child ready for school. If a child's parents do not provide the requested item, many teachers buy extra and supply the child with them. My sisiter teaches in a low income area of a otherwise higher income district and she budgets an amount(hundreds of $$$) to buy supplies for her children that come with nothing.

I agree that most items can be bought on sale right now. We always buy extra as we often need more as the year goes on.

One thought is that if you really can not afford the entire list is to ask which supplies are for your child and which are for general classroom use. Of course I believe in helping others but if you truely can not do that, at least try to cover your child.

Many of us don't mind the cost. I certainly don't. What I do mind is the waste or the specifying things that cannot readily be found. We inevitably get asked to buy half a dozen marble notebooks that are barely or not at all used. If they come home at the end of the year, they are typically all battered from being in a desk or cubby all year, but largely or completely blank.

Last year, on the first day of school, dd was told she had to decorate a marble composition book with things that had meaning for her, and the teacher wanted real stuff, as in a merit badge rather than an image.

Then the whole thing had to be covered with a particular type of laminating film and be done in two days. In her note, she suggested we purchase said film at Target or Walmart. Neither of those stores carried the film. After many local trips, I had to drive an hour to find a place that did. The film cost $25. Every parent I talked to was fuming about this.

I don't believe for a second that my dd learned a thing from doing this, other than being irate about having to destroy stuff that mattered to her by sticking it on a notebook, and it certainly didn't enhance her English composition experience, either.

 

[mom3sonstt]

One of my child's elementary teachers had a basket of slips with school supply/craft items written on each slip. At back to school night, she would tell the parents about the basket and say that if they were interested in donating to the class, they could take a slip.
....

That's a neat idea. When our elementary school had a book fair each of the teachers had a wish list available to look at. It would be a list of books from the book fair that they would like to add to their classroom library. As they were purchased they would be marked off the list. And inside the cover of the book they would put a bookplate noting who donated it. A lot of times our book fairs would have a buy one get one deal so you could either get 2 books for your child, or one for your child and donate the free one to the classroom.

 

[Alex&Evan'sMom]

Check the Walgreen's & CVS flyers (and office supply stores too) in conjunction with some of the coupon blogging sites and you can get many of the school supply items for pennies and free.

We bought so much last year when we started couponing, that we only have to buy a few things this year for our kids. And we paid next to nothing for a large portion of what we bought last year.

The only part of the lists that really bother me is the really specific stuff - like "Ticonderoga" pencils on that one list - really? It almost makes you think someone in the school has a connection with the company. A pencil is a pencil.

When my oldest son was in kindergarten I tried to save money by buying the supplies myself(and finding sales) instead of paying a flat supplies fee. Thanks to specialty paper I could only find at one store I ended up spending more than the flat rate. Since then I pay the flat $50 per child to the school and let them supply everything. I keep a pencil boxes at home with pencils, pencil sharpener, crayons, erasers, glue and scissors. It's much easier and less stressful(not to mention cheaper).