Back to school *vent*

[Pigeon]

Did any of the parents take the time to talk the teacher about the assignments. Complaining among yourselves solves nothing.

The teacher thoughtfully gave the families no lead time on this wild goose chase. The assignment came home on a Friday and was due on Monday.

 

[TwinsinCA]

The secretaries in my daughters school say the reason they don't send them out early is because then they had a buttload of parents up a the school saying "I want my child moved out of this class and into some other teachers class" etc.... and I can see that happening because we have one teacher in 3rd grade that if the parents don't know any better to put in a request early the year before not to have that teacher they get stuck with that teacher so they are the ones up at school yelling. So they figure the later they send them out the less time they have to hear parents complaining!

Our school office is closed all summer. The week before school starts they are "open" for registration. I remember one year that they had a HUGE sign on the door telling parents NOT to come in unless you were registering a new student. Period. And they would not answer their phone.

All I wanted to know was when are the class lists going to be posted and when back to school night was. I respected their sign and then called the district where I finally found out what I needed to know.

Point being, they aren't really available to be hounded by parents who are not happy with where their kids are placed.

 

[aprilgail2]

Our school office is closed all summer. The week before school starts they are "open" for registration. I remember one year that they had a HUGE sign on the door telling parents NOT to come in unless you were registering a new student. Period. And they would not answer their phone.

.

Our offices are not closed in the summers- every grade school, jr high and senior high has full office staff that works in the summer.

 

[AZMermaid]

I don’t mind the school lists WHEN they are for learning purposes. But the year when DD was in 3rd grade we had to buy 3 boxes of bandages, a large bottle of hand soap, 4 rolls of paper towels, and pool in money for a gold fish …. I almost lost it.

Ok- the goldfish thing seems weird, but the other stuff- well, if the state has cut the budget so badly and the school can't afford paper towels and band-aids, who do you expect to buy it? The teachers?

 

[DawnM]

Do you get a list of items you need to buy? It is illegal in CA to do it at all. I was never allowed to give a list of needed items, but I could give a "suggested list."

Dawn

For the life of me I DO NOT understand why so many schools are able to do just that but ours cannot. I KNOW they have the class lists made up by the end of the school year but they refuse to let us know which teacher our kids will have. It is frustrating enough for everyone, but for those with kids going into K they will not know if they have morning or afternoon K until a few days before schools starts! I guess those parents with jobs who need to arrange care for their kids can just go fish.

Their excuse is that there are late registrations and they have to wait to make the final list so the classes are balanced. What do other schools do? Certainly we can't be the only school with kids who move in during the summer. Besides, every single year the classes are over the CA limit when school starts. When they add a new class they pull out the kids who are the newest to the school. So those new kids will be booted to a new class anyway. Why not let the rest of us know before school lets out??

And because they can't tell us who our kids' teachers are, they can't give us the lists. Drives me crazy every year.

 

[AZMermaid]

I'm on the complete other side of the 'issue' as the OP. I am a first grade teacher in a Title I school. I don't have any kids of my own, but end up buying school supplies for 18 kids every year. Our school gives out a 'suggested' supply list to parents and some of them bring what they can. Our state education budget is non-existent, so we don't get grade level or school money that we can spend. I added up my receipts last year and I spent $900 of my own money on things for my classroom! There was nothing major purchased. This was just food for snacks and projects, materials for holiday gifts (Christmas, Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, End of Year,) classroom supplies, tissues, Germ-X, books, etc... So I would say a list of things that will cost $40 is really not a big deal

Ditto this! I don't teach Title 1 anymore and the first year I taught at a mid class school I was FLOORED when the kids brought in pencils and crayons!

Because I switched districts two years ago, I have been pink slipped the last two years (pure seniority and not a think I can do to protect my job- I get a ton of parent requests but it doesn't matter). Currently I am unemployed and school starts a week from Monday. Last year I was recalled the Wed before school started- so I expect that call next week.

So, my first year in the new district, we shared supplies. I loved it! There is something to be said about a perceived scarcity. I collected pretty much everything at the start of the year. I had the kids in groups of four and provided one box of crayons and markers, two glue sticks etc. Each kid had two pencils per week- although I gave out more as needed. The stuff lasted forever! At the end of the quarter I collected the leftovers, saved them for group work or spares for later. I handed out new stuff and off we went. I felt like the kids learned good teamwork skills and most importantly, I never had kids run out of crayons and markers. When they belonged to the "group" they took WAY better care of them.

Last year, my new classroom wasn't configured the same way so each kid kept their own supplies. They used them up or lost them before Christmas so most parents had to buy a second set of those everyday things later. This year (if I ever get recalled) I plan to share again.

Re: Brands- Crayola crayons (and markers somewhat) are 100X better than the generic ones. The generic ones are awful and just don't color. Elmer's glue and Fiskar's scissors are also a lot better but the generics can work if they have to.

 

[Jennifer in MI]

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.

I was thinking the same thing!! We homeschool and this year, for four kids, we spent less than $800 for ALL our supplies (and that includes curriculum!). I was pretty proud of myself there! (We do, however, have one child in Community College, and that is not included in that amount. I include that in our college budget line!)

 

[Samar]

I did all of my price comparisons for everything before I went to the store today. Target ended up being the better of the places (25 cent comp books, 25 cent packs of 24 crayola crayons, etc). I haven't received DD's Kindergarten list but I'm assuming it closely mirrors DS's 2nd grade list minus the dry erase markers. lol

 

[rainydayplay]

I haven't read the whole thread, but, as a 7th grade teacher, I wanted to respond. I *wish* I could send home a supply list half as detailed and have the stuff bought!

My supply list looks about like this:
1 3-ring binder (1" suggested)
loose leaf paper (any width)
5 dividers
pens (blue or black ONLY)
pencils
crayons, markers, and/or color pencils (optional)
glue (optional)
ruler (optional)
For the classroom (optional) Kleenex & paper towels

I never get Kleenex or paper towels. Most of the kids' parents will buy a 5-subject notebook or two that is mean to be used for ALL of their classes, instead of having the 3-ring binder with dividers and encouraging their kids to organize their work. They never have pencils and will come with pens of every color imaginable. Some of the kids (mostly girls who like to be neat) will buy their own crayons, markers, and/or color pencils. Now, we do some art-type projects, including a vocabulary poster every week, and I encourage them to be neat and colorful, etc.

I will go this weekend and buy around $7-$15 in crayons that I will wind up having to take away (because the kids will break my crayons and throw them across the room, but mostly take pride in their own possessions enough that they wouldn't do that if they had their own.) I will buy markers that I will mostly have to put up until after Christmas when I have 8th graders (to make sure they are available for the project that we do every year that requires markers.)

I have also bought 200 of those $0.15 notebooks. On the first day of each term, every one of my students gets one notebook, two wooden pencils, a cap eraser, and a black ink pen. If I didn't do this, I would have students who would go the first two weeks without any supplies. I'm also considering making a list of the supplies with prices and offering to go buy supplies for kids if their parents send the $$. Anything if it will help them get the stuff they need for class.

 

[torinsmom]

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"

I tried that mid year when we were out of clorox wipes, markers, and glue sticks. We got in one container of clorox wipes and that was IT! And this is in a fairly middle class school. Same thing on "Bring in a School Supply" Day during teacher appreciation week.

I teach first grade. At my school, we are required to make a supply list by grade level. So my teammates may want baby wipes while I don't, but it will be on the list. I'll tell my parents I don't need them, but often they've already purchased them.

Other brands:
Crayola crayons are definitely better than RoseArt/generic brands. Rose Art is almost like coloring with a candle -- difficult to get color on the paper.
Scissors -- Fiskars are the best, but there are several that are pretty good.
Glue--I have no preference.
Pencils--plain only, please. The glittery ones and several of the decorated ones tear up the pencil sharpeners. There are some brands that are much better -- they break less and sharpen easier, but I can't recall the names.

Other items needed:
Dry Erase markers -- We use these several times daily on individual dry-erase boards. First graders go through these a lot. We've talked about taking care of them and how to properly close the cap, but they still don't always close the cap tightly and some push down too hard. Every kid in my class brought in 6 dry erase markers last year, plus I gave them the first 2 from my supply budget, and we were completely out by spring break.
Kleenex-- Yes, the school should supply these, but they don't. My students brought 1 box each and we were out by Christmas. I requested more and received about 3 boxes. I bought 2 boxes and bummed 2 boxes from the teacher across the hall who had extras. The last month of school we used the scratchy brown paper towels.

MS & HS kids who have crayons on their lists -- it is probably to color code maps & things and/or for art class.

TOTALLY agree with everything you said! I teach preK/K and don't need baby wipes in my class. Some of the other teachers want them, so they are on the list. Some other teachers want ziplocs because every day they individually bag snack. We don't and we have plenty of ziplocs left from last year, so we don't need any. They want scissors; I have about 30 pair of Fiskars from years past. I will end up taking two bags full of stuff to target to get a credit for things we do need, like copy paper.

The secretaries in my daughters school say the reason they don't send them out early is because then they had a buttload of parents up a the school saying "I want my child moved out of this class and into some other teachers class" etc.... and I can see that happening because we have one teacher in 3rd grade that if the parents don't know any better to put in a request early the year before not to have that teacher they get stuck with that teacher so they are the ones up at school yelling. So they figure the later they send them out the less time they have to hear parents complaining!

This is the truth! Parents will throw a fit for the whole summer if they don't get what they consider to be the best teacher. Everyone cannot get the teacher they want. Our school doesn't even take requests, because it got so bad.

So, my first year in the new district, we shared supplies. I loved it! There is something to be said about a perceived scarcity. I collected pretty much everything at the start of the year. I had the kids in groups of four and provided one box of crayons and markers, two glue sticks etc. Each kid had two pencils per week- although I gave out more as needed. The stuff lasted forever! At the end of the quarter I collected the leftovers, saved them for group work or spares for later. I handed out new stuff and off we went. I felt like the kids learned good teamwork skills and most importantly, I never had kids run out of crayons and markers. When they belonged to the "group" they took WAY better care of them.

Last year, my new classroom wasn't configured the same way so each kid kept their own supplies. They used them up or lost them before Christmas so most parents had to buy a second set of those everyday things later. This year (if I ever get recalled) I plan to share again.

Re: Brands- Crayola crayons (and markers somewhat) are 100X better than the generic ones. The generic ones are awful and just don't color. Elmer's glue and Fiskar's scissors are also a lot better but the generics can work if they have to.

I know some people think "sharing" is not fair, but I have had the same experience as you. I put pencils, colored pencils, markers, etc out on the shelves and the kids use them and return them to the shelf. So we may go through about 10 boxes of markers in a year vs. 20 if everyone was using their own. I don't put out the "off" brands I get, so noone's special snowflake is going to get the Dollar Tree colored pencils. I find that the supplies last longer this way and we never have kids running around crying "I don't have a blue!"

Marsha

 

[whatsup]

You don't want to disrespect teachers??? The school does not provide these things and it isn't the teachers responsibility to purchase them either.

Remember the next time people demand lower property taxes you ALWAYS pay in other ways!

 

[greengeen]

I think these lists have gotten out of hand, but I'm glad my school district restricted them. Maybe if enough parents complain, your district will do the same thing.

They HAVE gotten out of hand, and unfortunately most school boards do nothing, they just let the obsessive-compulsive teachers who make the lists have free reign. The part I particularly dislike is, "we will store the supplies you just bought and give them out as needed". In other words, my child takes in $75 dollars worth of school supplies and the teacher TAKES THEM AWAY. And I never see them or see them being used. And they get distributed to OTHER students who may or may not have contributed.

 

[delmar411]

for those who are struggling, if you have a Krogers in your area, there is a school supply deal that is basically paying you to take crayola crayons.

It's buy $10 (shelf price!) in certain brand school supplies and get $2 back for another shopping order (or $4 back when you buy $20). Crayola crayons are .25 right now (shelf price is $2.xx) and when you buy 5 packs for $1.25, you get back $2. Profit of .75 per set of 5, I believe it's a limit of 10 packs at once and if you can actually find 10 packs then you get back $4. You have to buy something else other than just the school supplies for the coupon to print (anything else in the store will do). We just threw in the Kroger brand fruit snacks that were $1 and paid .25 plus tax for each order.

This catalina deal goes through 8/21. Just something to keep in mind.

You can also do 3 boxes of the markers which are on sale for $1 each and get back $2. Making it $1 for 3 boxes of markers. Lots of other variations but the crayons are the 'money maker' deal.

 

[torinsmom]

They HAVE gotten out of hand, and unfortunately most school boards do nothing, they just let the obsessive-compulsive teachers who make the lists have free reign. The part I particularly dislike is, "we will store the supplies you just bought and give them out as needed". In other words, my child takes in $75 dollars worth of school supplies and the teacher TAKES THEM AWAY. And I never see them or see them being used. And they get distributed to OTHER students who may or may not have contributed.

If your child were in my class, I would tell you to keep your supplies and your kid can share the community supplies, if you have that big a problem. OMG, we TAKE THEM AWAY! What do you think, we are out there on the street corner selling them in the afternoon? And what if we let each child keep their own and your child loses her last pencil? Am I supposed to buy extras for the room, so when the kids break or lose something, they have a replacement? Its not like they can wait to do their work the next day after they bring more from home. And if the materials stay with your child, do you see them being used? No, they use them at school.

I don't know what kind of list you're talking about. Most of the lists I have seen posted here would come out to about $30, at least until middle school, when you have lots of classes. I have NEVER seen a class where you had to turn in a calculator to the teacher and since everyone needs a binder, I can't imagine them taking the binders either. I know a PP said that happened, but that seems like an exception to the rule.

It's just amazing how much people can complain about such a small thing. I mean, even if it was $75, that is around 40 cents a day using a 180 day school year for your child to have what they need. It's more like 17 cents if we are talking $30 worth of supplies. Most people spend 5 x that much on their morning coffee or midday soda.

Marsha

 

[mum4jenn]

If your child were in my class, I would tell you to keep your supplies and your kid can share the community supplies, if you have that big a problem. OMG, we TAKE THEM AWAY! What do you think, we are out there on the street corner selling them in the afternoon? And what if we let each child keep their own and your child loses her last pencil? Am I supposed to buy extras for the room, so when the kids break or lose something, they have a replacement? Its not like they can wait to do their work the next day after they bring more from home. And if the materials stay with your child, do you see them being used? No, they use them at school.

I don't know what kind of list you're talking about. Most of the lists I have seen posted here would come out to about $30, at least until middle school, when you have lots of classes. I have NEVER seen a class where you had to turn in a calculator to the teacher and since everyone needs a binder, I can't imagine them taking the binders either. I know a PP said that happened, but that seems like an exception to the rule.

It's just amazing how much people can complain about such a small thing. I mean, even if it was $75, that is around 40 cents a day using a 180 day school year for your child to have what they need. It's more like 17 cents if we are talking $30 worth of supplies. Most people spend 5 x that much on their morning coffee or midday soda.

Marsha

 

[aprilgail2]

I haven't read the whole thread, but, as a 7th grade teacher, I wanted to respond. I *wish* I could send home a supply list half as detailed and have the stuff bought!


For the classroom (optional) Kleenex & paper towels

.

OK- so buying ONE box of tissues is not bad but once they hit 6th and 7th grade they have 7 or 8 teachers a DAY---are we supposed to send in 8 boxes of tissues and 8 rolls of paper towels??
I am not pissed at the teachers for asking for the classroom supplies but at the district for not supplying them- taxes here are through the roof and for what we pay in school tax alone they should damn well be able to buy tissues and toilet paper for the kids!!! How can they expect you to pay 7,000-10,000 in school tax alone and not supply toilet paper and tissues!!!

 

[TwinsinCA]

Do you get a list of items you need to buy? It is illegal in CA to do it at all. I was never allowed to give a list of needed items, but I could give a "suggested list."

Dawn

I just found the list from last year. It does say suggested, you're right! But honestly I have no complaints about buying supplies. I find the process fun. Takes me back to when I was a kid, I guess. My gripe is that we get the lists so late that we have to scramble so that our kids are prepared for school.

 

[Twins]

The point of public school is that all children have equal access to education. Some parents don't have the money to feed their children properly so we have free or reduced lunches available and yet we expect parents to supply these same children with supplies that may run more than a bag of groceries? We feed the children at school, but we don't think the school should supply pencils and paper for the children? Sorry, that makes no sense to me.

I've seen children go to school with no mittens, hats, or boots when the snow is blowing and the wind is howling. I've gone to school with kids whose parent couldn't afford a phone in their home. These parents should be expected to spend money on folders, binders, and crayons?

I would hate to be the parent that has to choose between making my kid feel unprepared for school and putting food on the table for the week or being able to fill my gas tank so that I can drive to work.

 

[katybugsmom]

I come from a very small district in a rural part of SC. We have not charged a supply fee in our district in years!
All supply lists have to be approved by the principal and superintendent!
We don't ask for much, not nearly as much as some of the lists I have seen!

Here is the list for our 4K classes:
2-2 pocket folders (.10 each)
1 pack of 24 crayons (We really only want the 8 basic colors, but you can get a 24 pack for .25 versus $1.84 for an 8 count pack!)
1 pack of markers ($1.50)
2 glue sticks (.25 for both)
1 roll of scotch tape ($1.00)
1 refill pack of baby wipes ($1.00-$1.50)
1 box freezer gallon zip-loc bags ($1.50-$2.00)

It will cost a parent less than $7.00 for all these items!

We do have a "Nice, but not Necessary List" we give out with other things we would like to have, but they are not required!

We also don't hold it against the child if he/she doesn't bring in the necessary supplies! Between the three adults in my room we always make sure each child has what he/she needs!

I wish all parents the best of luck with purchasing school supplies, especially if you have more than one child in multiple grades!

One last note: This will probably the last year we have the money to do it, but all rising 6th graders will receive all the school supplies they need from the district to begin the year for free! It's a welcoming gift from the Middle School/High School! My DH is the Assistant Principal at the middle school and our daughter just happens to be a rising 6th grader!
We are a rural, farming district-74% of our children eat free or reduced lunch, so we are not a wealthy,upscaled district-just one that have had good people do wonders with little money!

 

[LittleMissDisney]

our list this year is:

6 Spiral notebooks
2 marble notebooks
6 DOC-IT folders (never even heard of these!)
1 box colored pencils
2- highlighters
12 blue pens
6 #2 pencils
2 packs index cards
1- pencil case
2- novel cloth book covers (reusables only) - not sure what novel book covers are either!!
4- reusable cloth textbook covers
1- dictionary
1- thesaurus
1- 9x12 sketchbook
12- ticonderoga pencils (ONLY ticonderoga please!)this is for testing I'm sure. Ticonderoga are the best pencils for standardized (bubble fill in tests)
2- white erasers (white only!)again, for testing. Pink erasers leave "dust" behind that can mess with the scoring
5- plastic pocket folders (1 each of Red, Blue, Green, Yellow, White)
1- trapper keeper
1- pack looseleaf paper
1- 1" binder
1- novel of interest as needed for DEAR time
1- book bag or backpack (the girls use the aero tote type bags which she got as a grad. gift from a friend in June so we are good for this already!)

Supplies for ELO, English Lab, Math Lab, Academy must be purchased at school store. ( I have NO clue how much all this will cost!!!)

They usually end up needing a jump drive every year since 3rd grade too for computer class and for things in the classroom- last year in 5th they had to do a power point presentation at home and bring it to school so they needed the jump drive!

The schools must now provide the graphing calculator if they want the kids to have them- they were taken to court and can no longer require parents to buy those things!

I'm suprised at the trapper keeper. I request no trapper keeper or velcro closure binders in my room. 28 kids opening and closing their binders throughout the day can drive you batty!