School always asking for $$$$ for EVERYTHING... is it normal?

[Papa Deuce]

My daughter's school is always asking for money / donations for things that they use in everyday stuff... construction paper, scissors, colored chalk..... stuff like that.

Now before school began, they gave us a list of what was supposed to be needed by every child..... 15 glue sticks per child, at least 20 "twistables", pens, paper, ..... all told those items cost about $50 per child.

But we're only in school 3 months now, and they have probably asked for another $30 per child for "school" supplies. At this rate, we will have "paid" the school about $100 per child by June, if it keeps up.

Isn't that what your TAXES are supposed to pay for when your kids attend public school?

BTW, at Tae Kwan Do class for my daughters today, I met the dad of a child in one of my daughters classes. He was absolutely FUMING about something that I didn't even know was going on. It seems he caught his 6 year old daughter "stealing" ( his words ) change from their house.... Why? Because the school is rebuilding and they are going to put in a new playground, and have been asking kids to bring in change for the "new playground fund"... and the class with the most donations gets an end of year ice cream party.

He was absolutely livid. I wouldn't say that I am "livid", but this irks me a whole lot.

Is this normal? Why are we asked to do this? Again, isn't that what school taxes are for?

I don't know the answer.... I'd like to know what you think.

 

[Jaimee]

My son's school does this too. I spent about $75 on school supplies and then another $20 on the special calculator he needed for 4th grade They usually don't hit us up again for supplies until Chritmas break. The thing that gets me though is that he comes home with a backpack FULL of half used things at the end of the year.

He said they aren't allowed to keep their own supplies, they go into a communal thing and they take them as needed. I understand some parents can't afford everything at the beginning of the year (I'm a single mom, so it's hard for me too..) But I'd much rather contribute a few extras in September, and then let DS use his own supplies during school. That way if he doesn't use them, we can save them for next year.

 

[addicted_to_WDW]

School supplies cost me $50 - $100 at the beginning of the year, but the school doesn't ask for supplies beyond that. What kills me are the field trip and activity fees. DS is in the chamber choir and I'm constantly being hit up for $50 here and there so they can go to competitions and concerts. He goes to a visual and performing arts middle school and they take that stuff seriously. Ah well, I guess we kind of knew what we were getting into when we decided to send him there.

The change thing is pretty common, imo. Our school is always raising money for something, though usually it is for the poor and not something school related.

 

[OhMari]

You have probably missed the budge cuts that have been happening for the last 10 years. Music classes, gym classes, art classes and sports were some of the first things to get hit. People fought like crazy 10 years ago to keep the music and art classes in the school. So we were told we would need to buy the supplies, since they could only budget for teachers salaries.

My youngest is a Senior in h.s. and I think I have paid almost $500 for her this year. Art-$125, band $100, Trig. calculator $125, Graphic Arts $50.
2 sports $50, school fee$75, towel fee $25 and in Jan. I have to come up with $50 for her to graduate. Plus I have to get graduation hat, gown and tassle which will probably run $75.

We are told it is a privledge to use the gym for any activity. So they decided graduation is a privledge that you should pay for. Parents and students have declined to pay the fee and the kids just pick up their diploma's on the last day of school. How sad.

 

[rgf207]

The tax payer dollars are used mostly to pay the salaries of every employee in the school, utility bills, maintenance costs, food and extracurricular activities etc.... There is usually little or no money for supplies in the budget. My Wife does not get any supplies for her classroom. She has to buy her own supplies which cost about 200/year for us. This includes paper to print tests/quizzes/homework, tissues, pencils etc. She is high school math so she doesn't need to have supplies for the kids. But elementary school teachers could not afford to buy supplies for every student in their class that is why they expect parents to do it. Now I do admit, some lists are way over the top but it defininitly is normal for parents to pay 50+/year for supplies.

 

[Papa Deuce]

OK, so it is normal. I had to ask... but I would rather they ask for $100 up fron than keep asking for $2 here, $5 there...

And I TOTALLY don't like the idea of paying for the playground, the more I think about it.

OhMari, I agree with you 100% about using the gym for diplomas. That si absolutely ridiculous!

 

[kidzmom3]

of all things, I think the playground should be parent funded. The kids have many ways to be entertained at recess and a playground is not necessary. Our schools was funded by parents and built by parents. I would be livid if they took money out of the school budget for something so unnecessary. But everyone has their own priorities for the schools budgets. I am just glad that we are back to 25 kids in a room.

 

[chris1gill]

My daughter's school is always asking for money / donations for things that they use in everyday stuff... construction paper, scissors, colored chalk..... stuff like that.

Now before school began, they gave us a list of what was supposed to be needed by every child..... 15 glue sticks per child, at least 20 "twistables", pens, paper, ..... all told those items cost about $50 per child.

But we're only in school 3 months now, and they have probably asked for another $30 per child for "school" supplies. At this rate, we will have "paid" the school about $100 per child by June, if it keeps up.

Isn't that what your TAXES are supposed to pay for when your kids attend public school?

BTW, at Tae Kwan Do class for my daughters today, I met the dad of a child in one of my daughters classes. He was absolutely FUMING about something that I didn't even know was going on. It seems he caught his 6 year old daughter "stealing" ( his words ) change from their house.... Why? Because the school is rebuilding and they are going to put in a new playground, and have been asking kids to bring in change for the "new playground fund"... and the class with the most donations gets an end of year ice cream party.

He was absolutely livid. I wouldn't say that I am "livid", but this irks me a whole lot.

Is this normal? Why are we asked to do this? Again, isn't that what school taxes are for?

I don't know the answer.... I'd like to know what you think.

Your post makes me a bit sad actually... Just think, how many kids in the class don't have the money to buy all the things they need for the class... How much is the teacher budgeted per year for their classroom supplies? If you want to know where your tax dollars are going I would go to a board meeting to find out... It costs well over ten grand or more to educate a child properly.... add up the teachers salary, the benefits including health, then add in the cost of the building, and the salaries of the administrative staff, heat, electric, etc.... the money paid in taxes isn't nearly enough IMHO....

 

[Papa Deuce]

of all things, I think the playground should be parent funded. The kids have many ways to be entertained at recess and a playground is not necessary. Our schools was funded by parents and built by parents. I would be livid if they took money out of the school budget for something so unnecessary. But everyone has their own priorities for the schools budgets. I am just glad that we are back to 25 kids in a room.

My thinking is that the town will OWN it, so why should we pay for it beyond taxes. It isn't something disposable like paper, glue....

25 kids per room? Yikes! We have 5 rooms of 1st grade with 15 kids in the largest room. My one daughter has 14, and the other has 13.

 

[kidzmom3]

Jan. I have to come up with $50 for her to graduate. Plus I have to get graduation hat, gown and tassle which will probably run $75.

We are told it is a privledge to use the gym for any activity. So they decided graduation is a privledge that you should pay for. Parents and students have declined to pay the fee and the kids just pick up their diploma's on the last day of school. How sad.

If they have decided against a graduation ceremony, why do you have to buy all the supplies??

 

[paigevz]

Never heard of paying to use the gym. That's pretty nuts. We use school district funds for playgrounds here. But we do penny drives for United Way. I did ask my second graders to bring more paper and erasers, but there SHOULD have been enough for the year, the problem was so many didn't bring it, and then they have been tearing up erasers and dropping them on the floor and not picking up so they get swept up by the janitors, and the paper they have been using for notes, paper airplanes, drawing and then half finishing work, shoving it in their desk, waiting until I ask for it and starting over. This is all stuff that I've been trying to deal with all along, but it's just a big problem. So I asked for more, but certainly not more than 3 or 4 dollars worth per child.

The big nickel and dime stuff here ( or more like 20 and 40 dollar stuff) is school portraits, sweatshirts, yearbooks, fundraisers, and so on. It all adds up.

Then high school........THAT stuff gets nuts. Class rings, caps and gowns, senior trips and pictures, plus any extracurricular activities, and certain classes need specialized equipment.......high school runs into big bucks.

And can I just say.......15 glue sticks??????

 

[kidzmom3]

My thinking is that the town will OWN it, so why should we pay for it beyond taxes. It isn't something disposable like paper, glue....

25 kids per room? Yikes! We have 5 rooms of 1st grade with 15 kids in the largest room. My one daughter has 14, and the other has 13.

this is probably why they don't have the money for supplies and a playground. I would be so grateful to have such a low teacher/child ratio. I think you should consider yourself fortunate.
Not that it doesn't stink to be asked for the extra money! It drives me crazy too, but I do understand why they do it.

 

[drag n' fly]

I too am tired of being nickel and dimed to death. Then on top of it all after they have milked me dry they want me to come in and volunteer. All three of my children attend public school. By the time I pay for all school fees, bussing, supplies etc it came over a thousand dollars for three kids. That does not include field trips or special request supplies or clothing etc!

 

[dcgrumpy]

this is probably why they don't have the money for supplies and a playground. I would be so grateful to have such a low teacher/child ratio. I think you should consider yourself fortunate.
Not that it doesn't stink to be asked for the extra money! It drives me crazy too, but I do understand why they do it.

ITA
Those are really small classes. DS had 19 kids in his class in Kindergarten and 24 in 1st grade.

 

[Papa Deuce]

I too am tired of being nickel and dimed to death. Then on top of it all after they have milked me dry they want me to come in and volunteer. All three of my children attend public school. By the time I pay for all school fees, bussing, supplies etc it came over a thousand dollars for three kids. That does not include field trips or special request supplies or clothing etc!

Oh, yeah, my wife is "Homeroom Captain".... but I sub for her on occasion. But that doesn't bother me at all, becasue we volunteered to do it.

Now that I know this is "normal", I guess I just wish that it was all at once. It is a PITB trying to remember all this on an almost weekly basis.

 

[Papa Deuce]

ITA
Those are really small classes. DS had 19 kids in his class in Kindergarten and 24 in 1st grade.

That's about what it was last year, from what I have been told... They added an additional class this year.

 

[drag n' fly]

of all things, I think the playground should be parent funded. The kids have many ways to be entertained at recess and a playground is not necessary. Our schools was funded by parents and built by parents. I would be livid if they took money out of the school budget for something so unnecessary. But everyone has their own priorities for the schools budgets. I am just glad that we are back to 25 kids in a room.

IMO a playground is necessary and we as parents have fund raisers so we can really pimp out our playgrounds they are awesome.! It provides exercise, Large and small motor building skills, social interaction, free play and valuable social skill building. After that the kids in the neighbourhood have a wonderful place to play. I am happy to contribute to the playground which I consider and very valuable resource. A lot of our classrooms run from 28-33 kids per room absolute craziness so I do understand your frustration there!

 

[LisaR]

It costs well over ten grand or more to educate a child properly.... .

That is not true at all. There are schools that don't get anywhere near that amount and manage to provide a great education. There are also schools that get well over $10,000 per student and still aren't able to provide a decent education.

When my DD attended a Montessori School, they were famous for hitting you up for money every time you walked in the door. The tuition at that school was outrageous and yet they still needed money constantly. I hate being nickel and dimed. I would rather pay extra in tuition instead.

Airlines do this now, as well. Your flight is $150. Wait! You want to bring luggage with you on vacation? Sorry, you need to pay extra for that. You want water? Pay up. Okay, I guess I have digressed.

 

[N.Bailey]

We live in a very small area. I guess there are pluses and minuses to that. We surely don't employ as many teachers, but we also don't take in the tax revenues that larger areas do.

Our schools supply everything. You don't so much as have to buy a pencil if you don't want to. Binders are mandatory for the middle school and even they are provided if the parents don't buy better ones (we always did).

We've recently built all new elementary schools in our area (when my kids were in those schools - they're now in the high school), and if we wanted playgrounds, parents did have to raise that money. All the schools have state of the art playgrounds (kids' dreams actually) because we raised so much.

They do tend to ask for lots of donations thru out the school year, though. They want to get the kids involved. We've had to send money/pet supplies/canned food items, etc.. for the humane society, the soup kitchen, battered women's shelter, Katrina victims, packages to Iraq, and on, and on, and on, and on...... Of course you're not obligated to give anything for these causes, but it makes the kids feel like they're making a difference.

One year, and I'm not even sure where the money came from, they bought yearbooks for every child in the elementary schools. They take kids to a ballgame (Altoona Curve) in the middle school if they read 30 or so books a year. Parties are thrown for groups/glasses/organizations who raise the most money for each fund raiser. This year, they're taking one of my son's classes to the movie theater. They'll also be visiting Hershey Park (which will be paid by fund raising money).

All in all, I can't complain. I know my friend in Tennessee had to buy her son a $100 scientific calculator. I expected that, but my kids are in 10th grade and so far, we've not gotten anything saying they had to buy one.

I don't know why there are such extremes from area to area.

 

[roliepolieoliefan]

I too am tired of being nickel and dimed to death. Then on top of it all after they have milked me dry they want me to come in and volunteer. All three of my children attend public school. By the time I pay for all school fees, bussing, supplies etc it came over a thousand dollars for three kids. That does not include field trips or special request supplies or clothing etc!

Try that plus a few thousand to send your child to school. Thats how it was when DS attended Catholic school. We had to pay for supplies,then loads of fundraisers, volunteering out the whazoo and last but not least tuition on top of it.

DS is in public school this year. We have no fees, bussing, or supply list. Yea I do consider myself lucky since I have been on the other side also.