Let the parents fight over school supplies start....

[maps]

you guys are all scaring me!

my daughter starts kindergarten in two weeks and i have no idea what i'm supposed to be getting her. any ideas?

 

[AmazingGrace]

We got the prepackaged supplies from both schools this year. With just moving and the kids in two diffeent schools, I didn't need the stress of doing the exodus to Wally World!!

 

[hentob]

I just can't believe that schools (PUBLIC schools, that is) can request that children bring in supplies. Not only that, but then penalize children for not having them!!!!! It is not the child's fault if their parents would rather buy cigs than pencils.

I live in a school district where there are many, many poor children. Not to mention many neglected children. I think our teachers feel lucky that some of these kids make it to school on time and with a clean shirt. Really.

The "haves" stand out SO MUCH from the "have nots" in my school district. It is very sad. But, it is NOT the child's fault. How can you give a strike against a child b/c their parents do not care!?!?!?!?!?!

So a a mandatory school supplies list would NEVER make it here.

 

[susy]

You do not have to buy any school supplies. Your child is entitled to a free public education. You won't get a principal to say that you MUST buy school supplies or else. Or else waht?

 

[Beauty]

I didn't read all the replies but our school started the most super thing last year.

The PTA puts together the school supplies for the elementary. The cost is $60 per package and has EVERYTHING that each grade needs.

Unfortunatly J.C. is in 7th so needed different things this year (but mainly just notebooks and paper) but it was so nice to be able to pay that $60 and not fight the stores and know that he had just exactly what he needed.

 

[gottaluvPluto]

Buying supplies for any public school in the US is not mandatory. Teachers/schools usually put more than what a child needs on the school supply list. Then teachers will take the supplies the parents bought and divide them up to the students. If a teacher has extra she will then put it away for another day or another student.

Don't forget cram the van! Parents of low income can sign up and cram the van will give them school supplies. The parents don't have to pay for the supplies.

 

[RitaZ.]

When my DS was in 4th grade, his teacher suggested that the students bring in a 2" binder to keep in the classroom, but it wasn't mandatory. I couldn't find a 2" binder, so instead I bought two 1" binders. When I went in for a conference, she made a big deal out of my DS being the only student that didn't have one and asked if we couldn't afford one. I explained to her that I couldn't find a 2" binder, so I had to buy two 1" binders instead. I thought that having a 2" binder wasn't mandatory, only suggested, so I figured that what I bought would suffice. Well, it didn't, she said that DS had to have a 2" binder. So much for "suggested".

 

[Jeafl]

I can sympathize with you Rita. My daughter needed a 2" binder last year and I went to every store I could think of and never found it. I eventually ordered one on line and paid as much in shipping as the stupid binder cost.

 

[Nancy]

I can't believe you all have this much problems with school supplies! My Dd got a list last week for 6th grade. The 2 in high school won't get lists until their first day. We usually get a few days to get everything and I've never run into a problem getting supplies. I start stocking up on the basics like paper, folders, pens and pencils now...so that when school starts in a few weeks I just need the extras. I do complain about my 2 oldest having to have these Scientific calculators that cost close to $100.00 each. They can borrow the class rooms during lessons but need their own for exams. AND to pass the NY State Regents exam they need to have them also.

I've also never heard of teachers asking for more then what the kids really needed and handing them out to other kids...my kids have used everything I've bought for them.

 

[mom42860]

I had to have my DH reread my son's list to be sure I had it correct, he needs 5- 2 inch binders, with paper and dividers! I can't imagine these will fit in his locker with his books and other supplies and my husband wants to know if they are going to pay for future back problems.

 

[syncer55]

My local staples and office depot should be jammed packed in the next week.

 

[cnids00]

I love taking my daughter back-to-school shopping, we make it a treat and she absolutely loves picking out her own things. Fortunately for us, her list doesn't say specific colors or such, but I also take her early and get it all done with. She is all happy and excited and then we go eat some lunch. She's starting 4th grade tomorrow. The key word is early though, before the crowds arrive and you wish the aisles at Wal-Mart were so much wider then they are. Now from a total different view, I helped out in setting the back-to-school and that is a task in itself, also trying to fill it during tax free weekend here in MO. I wouldn't wish that on anybody The shelves were wiped clean...and 11:50PM sunday (tax free was over at midnight) this one customer came in and expected us to know where to find the certain items she wanted..she got really upset and wanted the store manager...I'm thinking, lady, if you knew it was over at midnight, why wait all day to come shop and then expect us to know (in 12 pallets of freight and at least 10 carts full of items), she did say she was "busy" doing other things during the day...geez...

If I could wiggle my nose, I'd be in WDW!

 

[Beauty]

Rita we had to have 2 2" binders this year and it drove me NUTS because I couldn't find them anywhere!!!!

We finally found them when we were in Memphis for the day!

 

[Pin Wizard]

DS's list was also mailed home with his report card at the end of last year. Nice to buy things before the crowds hit the stores for back to school! Hey! This is one thing I'm really happy about at his new school!

 

[TheOtherVillainess]

You thought YOUR school supply troubles were bad. I found this in the Dallas Morning News today:

Little Luis' school supplies list included all the items you'd expect a kindergarten teacher to request: crayons, notebook paper, glue, and scissors.

But it didn't stop there.

The list sent home from Anson Jones Elementary also includes: three large bottles of hand soap, three boxes of Kleenex, Clorox wipes, hand sanitizer, 50 paper plates, 50 paper cups, plastic spoons and forks, a disposable camera, Ziploc bags and one Glade PlugIns air freshener with four refills. The teacher even specified a preferred scent. Have school supply lists gone too far?

The Dallas school district and the leader of its largest teachers' group don't think so. They say the growing lists reflect schools' growing needs.

But in the poor neighborhood around Anson Jones, where nearly a quarter of the families live below the poverty line and the median household income is $33,587, social service agencies working to help families say the requests are out of hand.

"Years ago, the lists made sense. It was tolerable, but now the lists are more bizarre," said Sharon Gilbert, associate director of Our Neighbor's Closet, a nonprofit outreach mission at Irwindell United Methodist Church.

The group serves students from about 10 DISD schools. Ms. Gilbert said it has given out school supplies, uniforms, shoes and clothes for more than a decade.

But she said the list of demands from schools grows each year. A sample of supply lists she has collected this year ask for such items as 30-gallon trash bags.

"We are providing what seems to be cleaning and office supplies, and what irritates me is they're asking for things our tax dollars should pay for," Ms. Gilbert said.

The lists have gotten more troubling, both in content and the quantity requested, said Tommie Smith, executive director of Our Neighbor's Closet.

"These great big lists terrify parents," said Ms. Smith, adding that the mission's volunteers scout sales, clip coupons and shop almost daily to help meet the needs.

An unscientific survey of about a dozen elementary school supply lists in districts from Plano to Arlington to Denton showed long supply lists are not unique to Dallas.

Cannon Elementary in Grapevine asked for 18 types of items for kindergartners. The list at Freeman Elementary in Carrollton-Farmers Branch had 15 types of items. Frisco ISD had 13 and Fort Worth 11.

DISD's Anson Jones, meanwhile, asked for 24 types of supplies. And it was the only school list reviewed that asked kindergartners' families for such a breadth of disposable tableware, air fresheners and cleaners in addition to crayons, paper and markers.

Principal Luz Lozano would not comment Monday about the lists her school sent home.

DISD's Web site says that "each teacher provides his or her students with a list of supplies." District spokesman Donald Claxton said supply lists are varied throughout DISD; some schools request one or two of the same items, while others ask for three or four.

"I don't see anything out of the ordinary," Mr. Claxton said. "It's standard stuff. The supplies they're seeking aren't out of the ordinary from any other school district."

The district is considering a standard a grade-by-grade supply list, he said.

"Schools do pay for projects, but we've maintained all along we don't have resources to cover everything," Mr. Claxton said.

At Anson Jones, parent Sonia Flores said she didn't mind the $20 she spent on supplies for her third-grader.

"I didn't think it was all that bad this year," she said.

But Juana Grimaldo, 48, said she thinks the school ought to cover some items on the list, such as tissues and hand soap. She said she spent $70 on supplies for her two daughters, including a third-grader at Anson Jones.

"This school is for low-income people," she said. "This is not in Highland Park."

Another parent, Lesia Martinez, has a son in the eighth grade at Quintanilla Middle School. She worries about how to afford the $100 graphing calculator he needs for math.

"The church helped me with some, but I had to go buy the rest," said Ms. Martinez, a member of Irwindell United Methodist Church.

Unlike some social service agencies, the church's community outreach attempts to meet the specific needs outlined on the student's individual list rather than giving a one-size-fits-all stack of supplies.

But more frequently church members find themselves telling clients they can't find or afford the requested items, Ms. Smith said.

She said the group began giving out supplies on a Saturday this month. By the end of the day, she said, "I was sick from looking at the stuff I could not provide."

One reason for the growing supply lists is the expectation that some families won't provide any supplies. Typically, about 30 percent of students bring in the supplies on the list, Mr. Claxton said.

Mr. Claxton said DISD is aware of the strain that supplies can put on low-income families, but he added that efforts such as the mayor's back-to-school campaign help meet the needs. He added that teachers also receive a $250 stipend to help cover costs.

That's not enough, said Aimee Bolender, president of the teachers' group Alliance AFT.

Teachers, she said, are requesting items they think they need.

"As long as I can recall, there's been a lack of money in local schools," Ms. Bolender said. "This is an effort to get everyday supplies in the classroom."

Brian Burton, executive director for the Wilkerson Center, a social service agency, said he has seen a list "that made my mouth drop." It was brought in by a Cambodian mother of 11 children.

"I estimated that if we helped her, it would have cost us over $1,000," Mr. Burton said. The agency was able to help but couldn't afford everything on the list, he said.

TOV

 

[kwdietrich1]

Wow, I would just be happy if my students would bring a piece of paper and a pencil to class (along with their homework, of course)! I give my students a suggested list on the first day of school (teach HS) but I realize that many parents do their shopping before school starts. My biggest problem is students and paper. We only are alotted so much paper per year, based on a requisition form. It seems that students at the HS never bring their own paper(and when they do, they still use mine!), and choose to use the districts. No problem. But they are so wasteful. The will use a piece of paper to write two words, scratch it out and get a new piece just to take notes! I run out before the end of the semester! This year I will not put out the paper and only give paper to students who do not have their own and ask to use some. Our state budget was a mess last year, so many districts had to do without their normal supplies. I look at some of the school lists at Walmart and laugh, because at the HS, every teacher on the first day requires something totally different!

 

[Jeafl]

Wow TOV, that was quite an article. I don't think I'd be too happy about having to bring in air fresheners and clorox wipes. We are asked to bring in a box of kleenex for each student, but that's no big deal.

I think, at least in our area, that the administrators are WAY overpaid, and that's why the schools are in such a crunch. The superintendant in the Palatine, IL school district makes $357,000 a year. I've heard of principals that make over $250,000 a year. Perhaps if they cut back a little in that area parents wouldn't have to bring in cleaning supplies.

 

[Cindy B]

my kids schools are asking for

Tissues (one box)
Baby wipes --my daughters teacher asked for one and my sons 4!
clorox wipes
purell
boxes of plastic baggies (gallon and snack size)

I got the tissues.

The other ones will wait.

 

[Donnainnj]

I want to know where these teachers store all these items. Our schools have requested that each student bring in a pack of tissues at some time during the year, but I can't see having a place for all this stuff. Our E-school doesn't have enough classrooms, and had to convert the art and another special room into classrooms. Funny thing is my 7 year old can't wait to go back to school because she wants all her new school supplies.
Donna

 

[blowinbubbles]

Originally posted by Kallison
**snip** If a teacher wants a specific color folder and notebook and I can't find it -- well then we just write RED on the blue folder. I'm not going to knock myself out to find an orange duo-tang folder. **snip**

Ohmygawrsh, I'm LMAO at this! Coz my son's list said something like. . . ."Two yellow folders, one blue folder, one red folder and two green folders. " We get to Target and there's nothing there but PURPLE Folders! LOL

I"m breaking out my markers!!