Can I gripe about School Supplies?

[cnjmom]

Only fund-raising thing I ever look forward to is Girl Scout Cookies, and we miss out since we don't know any GS families.

Too bad you don't live near us. We'd hook you up.

 

[GoofyLo]

We have 2 fundraisers during the year and they send those *&^$% scholastic book flyers home once a month trying to get us to buy books all year.

Good luck. I would think for a private school they would just raise tuition $100 and get rid of the fundraisers. I would sign up for that one.

You don't have to buy books from the scholastic book flyers. IF you choose too, your child's teacher earns points that he/she can use towards books for the classroom. I spent 12 years teaching first and second grade. I purchased many books myself from the flyers to use in the classroom. Then I used the points I accrued combined with the points parents accrued to order even more books for my class. I was moved to 5th grade four years ago and am starting over.

I'm a mom and a teacher. I buy school supplies for my children as well as for my own classroom. I spend WAY more on my classroom than I do for my own children.

To the original poster: you got taken for a ride by your school! I get fundraisers, but that's a ridiculous price for those items not to mention a ridiculous list for K. There's no way they should ask for some of those quantities. Maybe these supplies are going to last until your child completes 2nd grade...

 

[darnheather]

My MIL is a teacher, and she spends her own money every year on school supplies for her classroom. My FIL usually goes to Sam's Club and just buys everything, and it's really expensive even at club prices. In general, men don't look at prices, they just throw everything in the cart and that's that.
I'm sure he has spent hundreds every year.

I started buying things for her when it goes on sale, we get the Sunday paper and I look through it all for Back to School sales, usually Walgreens has the best doorbuster deals. And Office Depot and Staples also sometimes have good sales.

She buys 5 different color 2 pocket folders for all the kids in her class, plus tons of paper, pencils, mechanical pencils, markers, highlighters, sharpies, composition notebooks, glue, rulers, etc, etc.

I had bought so many supplies one year, I spread it out on our kitchen counter and took a photo, I paid about $30 for nearly $200 of supplies.

Folders were on sale for .05/ea. at Walgreens, some highlighters for .09/ea., multipacks of mechanical pencils for .20 a pack of 5, pencils .19 a pack of ten, etc.

It is upsetting that the OP got taken advantage of. They should really tell people what they are buying, it's a hard pill to swallow when you get ripped off. It really stinks. You would think the school would be honest, saying it only costs "a little more" is really dishonest.

Thank you for what you and your mom do. I grew up in a community where at least half the children could not afford school supplies and back then we didn't have Wal-Mart with the good sales. I feel so lucky to be able to kick in a large bottle of hand sanitizer and some extra folders or whatever.

This year my oldest is in a public middle school with uniforms. Thankfully, we were able to go to the outlet store today and find everything she needed on sale and with a tax free holiday. But I don't know what families do that can't even afford to do this. I bought her three pairs of shorts, three pairs of pants, five polo shirts, and socks. It was $200 She'll need more pants and turtle necks come winter so this isn't the end of it.

 

[GoofyLo]

I think you missed the original poster's point.

They charged her $90 for a "school supply kit" that was worth maybe $25.
She isn't complaining about the cost of the supplies, she is unhappy about getting ripped off. Where did the other $65 go? Why did they not disclose this was a solicitation for a donation?

I'm sure most parents want to make their own decisions about what additional funds they contribute in the form of a donation or fund raiser, rather than being tricked into making a "contribution" under the guise of purchasing needed supplies.

The fund-raising must be really profitable to the companies running them, I wonder what real benefit the schools are getting for all the trouble. If we had kids, I wouldn't let them go door to door trying to sell stuff. I remember when I was in elementary all the stupid fund-raising BS, and my dad would end up peddling the wares at his work, where I'm sure co-workers felt obligated to buy the garbage, and ultimately how much does the school even get?

Only fund-raising thing I ever look forward to is Girl Scout Cookies, and we miss out since we don't know any GS families.

Yes, that was the ORIGINAL poster's point. Many others have gone off on a gripe feast regarding school supplies. I think that is what she was referring too.

 

[darnheather]

You don't have to buy books from the scholastic book flyers. IF you choose too, your child's teacher earns points that he/she can use towards books for the classroom. I spent 12 years teaching first and second grade. I purchased many books myself from the flyers to use in the classroom. Then I used the points I accrued combined with the points parents accrued to order even more books for my class. I was moved to 5th grade four years ago and am starting over.

I'm a mom and a teacher. I buy school supplies for my children as well as for my own classroom. I spend WAY more on my classroom than I do for my own children.

To the original poster: you got taken for a ride by your school! I get fundraisers, but that's a ridiculous price for those items not to mention a ridiculous list for K. There's no way they should ask for some of those quantities. Maybe these supplies are going to last until your child completes 2nd grade...

Last year was my girls' first time in school (prior homeschoolers). I love Scholastic and think it's a great program. Three times during the year I saved up and bought a $1 book for each child in the class. The idea that some children may not have books of their own at home made me so sad. We were very poor growing up but we were always surrounded by books and I can't think of any better gift to give a child. The teachers also got a book for each child at Christmas. At the end of the year there was a book swap were the children could bring in up to five books and choose five new ones. We could also send extra for children who didn't have anything to swap. I sent five and let Izzy choose 3. She loved picking new books!

 

[3boymthr]

I have mine rip out the ten pages they used and reuse the notebook next year. Older DS is in middle school and can reuse some of his binders too. No such luck with his agenda binder, which he carries everywhere and doubles as a hall pass. We went through two of the $9 heavy duty binders last year just for that. I buy supplies year round, especially hen the spiral notebooks are on clearance at Target.

A couple of years ago when Staples was having their "free" backpack deal I bought oldest DS the $100 backpack. I then bought their super expensive "best" binders with the rebate GC. Best money I ever spent. I bought them when he was in 8th grade. Now as a senior all those binders are still getting used.

Now what really really killed me was last year youngest DS HAD to have a 4" slant D ring binder - which is huge and expensive ($25 on sale ). I bought everything but that binder because no way no how could a kid need a binder that big and that expensive. Well every day for a week after school started he came home wanting that binder. I asked him to confirm with the teacher that that was the correct size. Yes mom that's the correct size. Went to open house. Please if you haven't already done so buy the 4" binder. So I caved and bought it. Yup they filled a whopping 1" of that 4" binder

The other thing that's killing me for the last 2 years the list includes one package of 4 Expo Dry Erase Markers and 2 pairs of scissors and a ruler a few other items that are totally reusable if they come home. The markers come home with one missing and the scissors and the rulers don't come home at all - The teacher kept them. Really? Then why do I keep needing to send in all those markers and scissors and rulers and...

 

[darnheather]

Thankfully, last year we were not asked to sell anything. Our school did some great fundraisers though through local restaurants. We had a nice meal out without cooking or doing dishes and the school got 10%. If we are asked to sell stuff this year I will write a check to the PTA instead. The school will probably end up with more money and I'll end up with way less headache!

ETA: OP I'm sorry you got so ripped off. I would absolutely let the principal know how you feel.

 

[brertoad]

Thank you for what you and your mom do. I grew up in a community where at least half the children could not afford school supplies and back then we didn't have Wal-Mart with the good sales. I feel so lucky to be able to kick in a large bottle of hand sanitizer and some extra folders or whatever.

Thanks. I try to help when I can, I know it means a lot to her, they don't have lots of money to be spending either. Helping buy cheap school supplies is the least I can do to help. I remember one year Walmart did .05 each on 70 sheet wide ruled notebooks, she was thrilled. She is always so surprised by how much stuff I buy.

The sad facts are there are always kids every year in her class who come from poor households. It's really nice for her to have all the supplies, and provide them with their folders and other items.

I've apologized so many times at Walgreens when buying so many things on sale, imagine ringing up dozens and dozens of on sale folders, and all the other bits and bobs..., I mention it's for her classroom, and usually the person ringing me up is so nice and also thanks me for helping.

 

[MinnieLovesMickey12]

I have spent about $110 on each kid but we are in junior high and they had a lot of Art supplies. I bought all their stuff myself mostly from Walmart and Amazon.

 

[Colleen27]

Welcome to Catholic School and their ripoffs!!!!

I can assure you, that list would have easily been bought at WalMart for $30 tops. (probably more like $25 with the school sales)


Steer clear of their fundraisers. My "fave" is the one where they sell dollar store crap for $10 or their "Raffles" where the same people always just happen to win (the ones where the parents are always up the principal's butt)

I had my daughter in Catholic school for 5 years: K thru 4th ONLY because we were in a bad school district. I finally moved and she is now in public school. BEST move I ever made and her educational experience is so much better now. Don't believe the hype that your child is getting a better education in Catholic school --- they're definitely not.

I don't think you can generalize either way. Some are better, some aren't. I moved my 7th grader from a fairly well-respected public district to a Catholic school and I can say with 100% confidence that she is getting a better education there. Her class size is less than a quarter of the size of her public school classes, and her teachers are wonderful about working with her at her own pace which is something she'd never get in a class of 30+.

Our school also doesn't have a lot of fundraiser expectations. Parents are required to put in a certain amount of volunteer time to help run community fundraisers (bingo is the biggest, followed by Lenten fish fries) but the only selling fundraisers are activity specific - last year the 8th grade chose to sell pizza kits last year to offset the cost of their class trip, and the middle schoolers sold pies from a local company to help fund winter camp. A nice side effect of that is when it is just the kids from one class/activity/team that chooses to sell, there's a lot less competition rather than every kid in the whole town selling the same thing (which is the case for the public elem PTA fundraisers).

Instead of writing all that information on the front of notebook. Use a 2" x 4" white address label and write it on there. That way next year just put another one on top of that one.

That's what we started doing a couple years ago. That way if the folders are in good enough shape or the notebooks are mostly unused we can reuse them.

Wow. Do parents complain this much about the cost of their kids' sports team fees and equipment or is it just school supplies? For those who do not participate in school fundraisers - do you also refuse to support fundraisers for sports teams and activities like cheerleading? I'm curious.

Absolutely.

I hate fundraising in general - you pressure your friends and neighbors to buy overpriced crap for your school/organization to get a small percentage. In almost every case you're better off just making a direct donation, and that's what we do except for certain fundraisers where the product actually provides a value. Right now there are two fundraisers we do: DS's football program sells discount cards - local businesses opt-in, usually with a 10% discount offer, and the team has the list of participating businesses printed up on a credit-card-sized plastic card that has the team schedule on the reverse. Those I'll sell. For $10, the buyer gets 10% off at many of the most popular mom-and-pop places in town, and it is almost all profit to the team (after the cost of printing is covered). And my daughter sells Girl Scout cookies, because as anyone with a scout knows people look forward to that sale all year long. All of the other fundraisers we skip - I'd rather write a check for $50 than sell $100 worth of overpriced chocolates and wrapping paper for the school to see the same benefit.

As far as supplies, sports are nothing like school lists. I've never, in 10+ years as a sports mom across 7 or 8 different sports and two communities, had a coach specify a particular brand or color of anything, nor have I had any coach request parents supply anything that isn't actually used. And that's what annoys me about school supply lists - the buying things that aren't used or are hardly used and the very, very specific requests that can often be hard to find (at least if, like us, you don't have big-box stores nearby).

 

[aprilgail2]

School supply lists get crazier here with every passing year! It is a huge complaint of mine..... Retailers sell notebooks that the kids want, BUT oh no we must all be cookie cutter and have red for this subject, green for that. We all know that what works for organization for one person doesn't for another, so why can't kids do their own thing? The joke is that I KNOW my son will not use some of the required binders at all & it will have NO impact, other than the money I will be missing from having purchased them! Huge ease of time and money. We will also end up with the 10 pages used in 70 sheet notebook phenomenon; still have some we are using up from 2 years ago! I hate this time of year!!!

Two years ago we had the "1 1/2"red binder, blue binder, green binder and yellow binder" on our list- we bought 2 WHITE two inch binders and she wrote on them- on the front of one it said "red " the back of it said "green" so she could flip it over and use it for the other class. Worked perfectly for her and not one word was said about it to her or myself from the teachers.

 

[hoffmann2828]

Sorry, op. that stinks! Our box was $35 and I passed. Not because of the cost, but because my DD loves to shop for it herself.

I did want to post a cute thing I do in case anyone likes it. Be aware, this isn't money or space saving!!!!! Each year my daughter wants a new backpack, whether she needs it or not and all year long my DD brings home tests, projects, etc and she wants me to keep EVERYTHING! So, we decide what gets kept and what gets tossed and it goes in a kitchen drawer if we are keeping it. Then, at the end of the year, we use her backpack and fill it up. Art, 100% tests, projects, any extra school pics, and report cards go in. It's a cute time capsule of that year. And, if it's a big project (like our TeePee we had to make) it doesn't fit and my DD doesn't throw a fit because she knows the rule!

We do have a large unfinished basement, so I don't mind keeping them. I think it'll be cute to see her grow up through her backpacks...already from Pre-K (Princesses) to K (Tink) to 1st (Monster High). Can't wait to see what she picks out for 2nd

 

[tlh0726]

I don't think you can generalize either way. Some are better, some aren't. I moved my 7th grader from a fairly well-respected public district to a Catholic school and I can say with 100% confidence that she is getting a better education there. Her class size is less than a quarter of the size of her public school classes, and her teachers are wonderful about working with her at her own pace which is something she'd never get in a class of 30+.

Our school also doesn't have a lot of fundraiser expectations. Parents are required to put in a certain amount of volunteer time to help run community fundraisers (bingo is the biggest, followed by Lenten fish fries) but the only selling fundraisers are activity specific - last year the 8th grade chose to sell pizza kits last year to offset the cost of their class trip, and the middle schoolers sold pies from a local company to help fund winter camp. A nice side effect of that is when it is just the kids from one class/activity/team that chooses to sell, there's a lot less competition rather than every kid in the whole town selling the same thing (which is the case for the public elem PTA fundraisers).



That's what we started doing a couple years ago. That way if the folders are in good enough shape or the notebooks are mostly unused we can reuse them.



Absolutely.

I hate fundraising in general - you pressure your friends and neighbors to buy overpriced crap for your school/organization to get a small percentage. In almost every case you're better off just making a direct donation, and that's what we do except for certain fundraisers where the product actually provides a value. Right now there are two fundraisers we do: DS's football program sells discount cards - local businesses opt-in, usually with a 10% discount offer, and the team has the list of participating businesses printed up on a credit-card-sized plastic card that has the team schedule on the reverse. Those I'll sell. For $10, the buyer gets 10% off at many of the most popular mom-and-pop places in town, and it is almost all profit to the team (after the cost of printing is covered). And my daughter sells Girl Scout cookies, because as anyone with a scout knows people look forward to that sale all year long. All of the other fundraisers we skip - I'd rather write a check for $50 than sell $100 worth of overpriced chocolates and wrapping paper for the school to see the same benefit.
As far as supplies, sports are nothing like school lists. I've never, in 10+ years as a sports mom across 7 or 8 different sports and two communities, had a coach specify a particular brand or color of anything, nor have I had any coach request parents supply anything that isn't actually used. And that's what annoys me about school supply lists - the buying things that aren't used or are hardly used and the very, very specific requests that can often be hard to find (at least if, like us, you don't have big-box stores nearby).

Exactly!

A friend who would hit me up every week (and every week I would say sorry not this time) and as she was doing this would complain about how much it was costing her to buy something from each of her kids. She looked at me dumbfounded and mouth hanging open when one day I responded, Your spending how much on this crap for a exactly how much to go into "your account"?? Write a check for that amount and save yourself some money. It was like a lightbulb went off, she is no longer buying or pushing the expensive crap unless it is pizza, sandwiches or cookies, we do not even know it is going on. Even her mother stopped me in the store one day and thanked me. Poor woman is living on a fixed income but would buy because it was her grandchildren. She said she was taking from her grocery money.

We even do not do the restaurant night fundraisers. Here the organization usually gets 10% of the receipt. I take look at the menu, estimate the cost of what our bill would be, and write a check for 20% (least amount we normally tip). Organization gets double money and we save $$$.

Every school year, I ask the kids teachers what supplies they need and then I either purchase it myself or give the teacher a gift card to go buy what they need.

 

[SEA333]

DS will be in K this school year at a Catholic private school (not that the latter makes a difference). In the Spring (March, maybe?) we were urged to utilize School Tool Box to purchase the pre-packaged school supplies. We were told they would be delivered to the classroom by the first day of school. The appeal was that it was convenient and we were told "it's a little pricier than paying in stores, but not by much."

So we decided go this route, even though the new supply lists had not been finalized yet. The cost was around $90.

Now that the lists are out, this is what my NINETY DOLLARS paid for (1st number denotes quantity):

SUPPLY LIST

(4) - Crayola Washable Markers Conical/Broad Tip Assorted Colors 12ct

(15) - Elmer's Large Glue Stick Washable Purple, Dries Clear (EACH)

(5) - Pure'n Gentle Baby Wipes Fragrance & Alcohol Free Resealable Refill (no tub)

(3) - Kleenex Facial Tissue Medium Box

(4) - Crayola Crayons 24ct


(1) - 4-Pack 2-Pocket Folder Poly w/out Clasp (RD,BL,YL,GN)

(1) - 2-Pocket Folder Poly w/out Clasp Orange

(2) - Fiskars Scissors Blunt 5"

(2) - Elmer's Washable School Glue White 4oz

(2) - Dixon Ticonderoga Pencil #2 Yellow Sharpened 12ct

(1) - Sealable Storage Bags Sandwich

(1) - School Box (9Lx6.5Dx2.5H)

I'm estimating that at most, these items would cost $30 total. UGH.

Papermate pencils are the best - LOL

I love how they now give parents specific BRANDS to buy - ummm....I can figure that out on my own!!!

As you have figured out by now, the school supply "kits" are usually sold by the PTA or other similar group, and are a FUNDRAISER. You will pay more because the school/PTA expects to make a profit on the sale of each kit.

I bought everything my 3 kids needed, including a scientific calculator for DS13's advanced math class, for $60 bucks out the door. My goodness - notebooks and folders cost $.10 if you hit the right sale!

 

[SEA333]

Wow. Do parents complain this much about the cost of their kids' sports team fees and equipment or is it just school supplies? For those who do not participate in school fundraisers - do you also refuse to support fundraisers for sports teams and activities like cheerleading? I'm curious.[/I]

YES!!!!!!!!!!! I do complain as much about both! LOL My DD is in cheerleading/dance/gymnastics, AND Girl Scouts. My boys play football. They all go to school

I used to be the fundraising chairperson for our elementary school, even though I rarely sold anything outside of DH and I. We both have huge families with a LOT of neices and nephews that are around my kids' ages. We all learned a long time ago that if sister A bought from sister B, and sister B bought from sister A, and sister D bought from sister A....well, you can see where this is going. We would be buying from one another's kids all year long. That's silly. So we decided a long time ago that we would not ask each other to buy anything from each other's kids' fundraisers. I do have to note, however, that Girl Scout cookies are the exception. My DD happens to be the only girl in the entire family right now that is in girl scouts, and GS cookies sell themselves, so I do put a facebook message out to families every year so anyone who wants to buy them can message me with their order. We do not ask individual family members directly. DD sold 112 boxes last year.

On to football and cheer - one of the differences between activity fundraising and school fundraising is that activity FR is MANDATORY. I hate that!!!!!!!!! But, my kids will not get their equipment until we have paid the fundraising fees. This year, we had to sell discount cards. Local businesses participate in giving discounts (like a BOGO deal on pizza, or 10% oil change, get a free sub with purchase of another, etc). We sell each card for $20. The problem I have with the cards, is that the participating businesses are VERY local, and we have no family where we live, so the cards are of absolutely NO value! I cannot sell them to people who won't be able to use the discounts! Ugh. Each one of my kids (all three are in the same league) had to sell a minimum of 4 cards, which was $240 out of my pocket. I was Not Happy At All about paying another $240 on top of the $375/each, and other incidentals that come with football/cheer leagues. And we are stuck with 12 cards that cost $240....we have "tried" to use the deals on purpose, and we are currently a whopping $16 closer to to recouping our money. I have spoken with the league board about my concerns and they are considering a buy-out option for next year - I'd of rather paid the $240 straight to the league instead of paying for the cards and the league only getting 1/2 of the money.

I'm obviously not happy about fundraising in general, and if it is not mandatory, I sometimes do it and sometimes opt out.

What I really hate, however, and I have a reason for where I'm coming from on this, is public school "registration fees". We now live in Illinois, and have to pay $100 registration fees every summer for each child, just to get them registered for school! We are originally from Michigan, where a teacher couldn't even REQUIRE a pencil or sheet of paper (requests only!), but here in Illinois, we pay $300 a year just to get our kids registered for public school, and then have the required school supply list. I understand it, and everyone around here doesn't even question it, much less sympathize with me LOL, but since we came from a state that doesn't allow this, it blew my mind that we have to pay to register our kids for public school!

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

Yeah, I did that school box order once too. It turned out not to have enough supplies in it for the whole year but things that were supposed to be in the box were missing.

I had to contact them and deal with their attitude to get the missing items. I was not a happy camper.

Now I just buy everything instead - saves me money and if I have leftover items, I just go thru those and give them to the kids to use up first. This year I only had to buy 2 things for my DD13.
I'm not sure what I'll have to buy for my senior in High School yet - we don't know those until registration day. And school starts 2 days later - fun times, fun times.

 

[Anne34]

Wow. Do parents complain this much about the cost of their kids' sports team fees and equipment or is it just school supplies? For those who do not participate in school fundraisers - do you also refuse to support fundraisers for sports teams and activities like cheerleading? I'm curious.[/I]

YES!!!!!!!!!!! I do complain as much about both! LOL My DD is in cheerleading/dance/gymnastics, AND Girl Scouts. My boys play football. They all go to school

I used to be the fundraising chairperson for our elementary school, even though I rarely sold anything outside of DH and I. We both have huge families with a LOT of neices and nephews that are around my kids' ages. We all learned a long time ago that if sister A bought from sister B, and sister B bought from sister A, and sister D bought from sister A....well, you can see where this is going. We would be buying from one another's kids all year long. That's silly. So we decided a long time ago that we would not ask each other to buy anything from each other's kids' fundraisers. I do have to note, however, that Girl Scout cookies are the exception. My DD happens to be the only girl in the entire family right now that is in girl scouts, and GS cookies sell themselves, so I do put a facebook message out to families every year so anyone who wants to buy them can message me with their order. We do not ask individual family members directly. DD sold 112 boxes last year.

On to football and cheer - one of the differences between activity fundraising and school fundraising is that activity FR is MANDATORY. I hate that!!!!!!!!! But, my kids will not get their equipment until we have paid the fundraising fees. This year, we had to sell discount cards. Local businesses participate in giving discounts (like a BOGO deal on pizza, or 10% oil change, get a free sub with purchase of another, etc). We sell each card for $20. The problem I have with the cards, is that the participating businesses are VERY local, and we have no family where we live, so the cards are of absolutely NO value! I cannot sell them to people who won't be able to use the discounts! Ugh. Each one of my kids (all three are in the same league) had to sell a minimum of 4 cards, which was $240 out of my pocket. I was Not Happy At All about paying another $240 on top of the $375/each, and other incidentals that come with football/cheer leagues. And we are stuck with 12 cards that cost $240....we have "tried" to use the deals on purpose, and we are currently a whopping $16 closer to to recouping our money. I have spoken with the league board about my concerns and they are considering a buy-out option for next year - I'd of rather paid the $240 straight to the league instead of paying for the cards and the league only getting 1/2 of the money.

I'm obviously not happy about fundraising in general, and if it is not mandatory, I sometimes do it and sometimes opt out.

What I really hate, however, and I have a reason for where I'm coming from on this, is public school "registration fees". We now live in Illinois, and have to pay $100 registration fees every summer for each child, just to get them registered for school! We are originally from Michigan, where a teacher couldn't even REQUIRE a pencil or sheet of paper (requests only!), but here in Illinois, we pay $300 a year just to get our kids registered for public school, and then have the required school supply list. I understand it, and everyone around here doesn't even question it, much less sympathize with me LOL, but since we came from a state that doesn't allow this, it blew my mind that we have to pay to register our kids for public school!

We also live in Illinois and are amazed by the amount we pay to register our kids for school. A couple years ago I paid over $1000 for 3 kids in school. I just paid for my sophomore daughter and registration fees were over $350 just for her. The state is broke and has never funded school districts like they should. Our fees keep getting higher and higher each year -- plus all the stuff they still need to bring!

School fundraisers drive me crazy too. All our high school teams have mandatory fund raisers. My DD's swim team wasn't too bad, but soccer sold the discount cards to businesses (they had a goal of 15 each and would canvas the neighborhoods trying to sell -- ugh!, and volleyball was always cookie dough -- minimum 12. Those are really expensive too. It's crazy.

 

[Colleen27]

We even do not do the restaurant night fundraisers. Here the organization usually gets 10% of the receipt. I take look at the menu, estimate the cost of what our bill would be, and write a check for 20% (least amount we normally tip). Organization gets double money and we save $$$.

I do the restaurant ones, if the restaurant is somewhere we'd eat anyway. I skip the ones at Burger King and the crappy Cici's Pizza knock-off that hosts them, but because we're in a small town those are far less common than fundraiser nights at the local Mexican restaurant/bar or seafood place and I'm happy to have an excuse to go to either of those.

What I really hate, however, and I have a reason for where I'm coming from on this, is public school "registration fees". We now live in Illinois, and have to pay $100 registration fees every summer for each child, just to get them registered for school!

That's crazy! How is it handled for families who just don't have the money?

 

[SEA333]

That's crazy! How is it handled for families who just don't have the money?

I know, right???!!! They have to apply for a fee waiver. It's the same federal/state form that is used to determine free/reduced lunch eligibility. So, if they get their fees waived, they also get free/reduced lunch, free pay-to-play, and do not have to pay for field trips or other mandatory activities/supplies like PE uniforms.

I personally think that this system is terrible, because then the teachers know that a family has applied for free lunch. Some people can afford to buy groceries (even if they have food stamps, they can still pay a lot less for groceries to make their kids lunch than buy school hot lunch), but not be able to budget that extra $300 for registration fees. Some people don't mind applying for help at an administration level, but have a huge problem knowing that the person they will be working directly with (the child's teacher) in their child's education knowing that they qualify for free lunch. I had a problem with it....several years ago, DH was laid off and DD and DS#2 were both still in diapers, plus older DS was only 5. We had to apply for medicaid for them because we couldn't afford COBRA. The caseworker called and told us that we qualified for food stamps as well, and that she would put the paperwork through. Did I like it? No, but it was a way to feed my kids worry-free for a few months. Trust me....if more people were like me when shopping for food on food stamps, we would have a lot more money in the system! At the time, my sale/coupon shopping allowed me to have a $400/month food budget. The state gave us over $700/month. It was crazy. We always had FS money left at the end of each month.

The caveat, though, was you could only use it for food. Had I needed to pay school fees at that time, it would have been very hard. I would have liked the option of having the fees waived independent of the free lunch program. We lived in a small town and were friends and neighbors with many of the teachers and staff at the elementary school. We did NOT apply for free lunch, partly because we had more than enough food with the food stamp card, and partly because I didn't think it was the business of my teacher friends and neighbors to know what my financial situation was.

I am grateful every day that that was a short-term resource, and not a lifestyle

 

[hereyago]

OP, I would be ticked as well.


And another poster writing about having to pay money to register their kid for public school, holy dang that truly is crazy.