School Supplies lists and Janitorial Supplies

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thank you to all the teachers out there dealing with these crazy penny-wise pound-foolish parents. They worry more about buying too many pencils and Clorox wipes than making it easier for their children’s teachers to do their jobs. Some like to complain that teachers are not doing enough to educate their kids and the quality of education in FCPS is declining. Yet, they want teachers to monitor dropped pencils and force kids to pick them up so parents can save $5.50 a year on ‘excessive’ pencils.

This! +1000
And if most families spent an extra $10/year to contribute to tissues and wipes, the underpaid teacher doesn’t have to spend hundreds of their own $ on enough for the whole class for the whole school year.
I’m embarrassed by this thread and it makes me feel even more for the teachers.

I’m happy to chip in the $2 that a 24-pack of paper towels and a 2 bottles of Clorox coat with all the other parents. That can last a year. Kids can bring own tissues. This really is not that complicated. It’s a kind of litmus test to find the parents who are most Type A and anxious about doing everything right.

Kids CAN bring their own tissues — but most of them don’t, or won’t have them when they need them. So the younger ones wipe their noses with their hands or on their sleeves, then touch things that everyone in the room also touches.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From what I gather from this thread, some parents do not want to send supplies to school because:

1. I don’t want to share my money with others.
2. Teachers should supply the materials
3. Teachers should put up with whatever quality supplies the school can give them. If they run out, too bad.
4. Teachers should do a better job of keeping track of pencils, instead of preparing and delivering quality lessons.

IMO the only reason parents shouldn’t send supplies is if they cannot afford them.

Well isn’t that why teachers don’t want to buy the material for their classroom? They have other things they need to do with their money?

Believe it or not, that is also true of parents. Who have already “shared” the money for the supplies in question by paying our local taxes. So if the decision is: do I want to share more money with a classroom who already has cleaning supplies (but perhaps the teacher had to proactively ask for the supplies, or they aren’t the preferred brand) and sharing my money with my family, or any of the other people in our community who desperately need help right now and don’t have the privilege of saying they don’t want to have to wait two days for paper towels.

+1 this exactly. We are also on a budget (only one parent works). I’m not funding preferred brands of teachers when they can use what’s provided by the school for free. And I’m not donating 3 large containers of Clorox wipes - 1 will do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are the school janitors also expected to use these “subpar” supplies? Who should they ask to donate things so they can have the brands they prefer?

The janitors only empty trash cans at my school. Nothing else is done to clean classrooms. That’s why teachers request wipes. I guess they could request spray and real paper towels instead.

The custodians at our school wash the desks every few days. Last year they were still coming around and spraying/wiping the door handles each morning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hope nobody complains about their kid’s teacher being out sick for a week, because the teacher-bought clorox wipes and tissues had run out by October.

Also, is “Disenfecting all classroom surfaces” part of the teacher’s job description? Or is it just another “assumed task” teachers are expected to do?

Haven't taught in a long time, but I never did this.

I go over the desks once in a while. One wipe will do 3-4 desks. The custodians also wipe down the desks every few days. I go through maybe 2-3 containers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:From what I gather from this thread, some parents do not want to send supplies to school because:

1. I don’t want to share my money with others.
2. Teachers should supply the materials
3. Teachers should put up with whatever quality supplies the school can give them. If they run out, too bad.
4. Teachers should do a better job of keeping track of pencils, instead of preparing and delivering quality lessons.

IMO the only reason parents shouldn’t send supplies is if they cannot afford them.

Should I also pay for cut flowers weekly? had a teacher that requested that, along with $250 from each family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DW and I are both ES teachers. I have over 30 years in FCPS. We have never had to use our own money to buy things like crayons and pencils. I’ve never pooled supplies and I go through maybe 3 containers of wipes in a school year.

So, does that mean that the desks are never cleaned and the wipes get used for the doors? That nothing gets cleaned and the wipes are used for emergencies? I’m genuinely curious.

I worked in an elementary/middle school in another district. My office had two tables and my desk. Every day I cleaned my desk, the tables, and the doorknobs. So, that’s a minimum 20 wipes a week —or a roll of paper towels and spray. What were you not doing that you only used maybe 3 containers of wipes in a whole school year?

I bought my own supplies, including huge bottles of hand sanitizer and emergency toilet paper.

Why did you clean your desk and table daily? That’s weird.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DW and I are both ES teachers. I have over 30 years in FCPS. We have never had to use our own money to buy things like crayons and pencils. I’ve never pooled supplies and I go through maybe 3 containers of wipes in a school year.

So, does that mean that the desks are never cleaned and the wipes get used for the doors? That nothing gets cleaned and the wipes are used for emergencies? I’m genuinely curious.

I worked in an elementary/middle school in another district. My office had two tables and my desk. Every day I cleaned my desk, the tables, and the doorknobs. So, that’s a minimum 20 wipes a week —or a roll of paper towels and spray. What were you not doing that you only used maybe 3 containers of wipes in a whole school year?

I bought my own supplies, including huge bottles of hand sanitizer and emergency toilet paper.

Why did you clean your desk and table daily? That’s weird.

DP, it’s not weird if 25 students touch it daily. Students are always at my desk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DW and I are both ES teachers. I have over 30 years in FCPS. We have never had to use our own money to buy things like crayons and pencils. I’ve never pooled supplies and I go through maybe 3 containers of wipes in a school year.

So, does that mean that the desks are never cleaned and the wipes get used for the doors? That nothing gets cleaned and the wipes are used for emergencies? I’m genuinely curious.

I worked in an elementary/middle school in another district. My office had two tables and my desk. Every day I cleaned my desk, the tables, and the doorknobs. So, that’s a minimum 20 wipes a week —or a roll of paper towels and spray. What were you not doing that you only used maybe 3 containers of wipes in a whole school year?

I bought my own supplies, including huge bottles of hand sanitizer and emergency toilet paper.

Why did you clean your desk and table daily? That’s weird.

I taught for years. I had the kids clean their desks a couple of times a year with water and paper towels. It was fine. If someone threw up on a desk, we handled it at the time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DW and I are both ES teachers. I have over 30 years in FCPS. We have never had to use our own money to buy things like crayons and pencils. I’ve never pooled supplies and I go through maybe 3 containers of wipes in a school year.

So, does that mean that the desks are never cleaned and the wipes get used for the doors? That nothing gets cleaned and the wipes are used for emergencies? I’m genuinely curious.

I worked in an elementary/middle school in another district. My office had two tables and my desk. Every day I cleaned my desk, the tables, and the doorknobs. So, that’s a minimum 20 wipes a week —or a roll of paper towels and spray. What were you not doing that you only used maybe 3 containers of wipes in a whole school year?

I bought my own supplies, including huge bottles of hand sanitizer and emergency toilet paper.

Why did you clean your desk and table daily? That’s weird.

Kids, including very young kids, including kids with chronic health issues were in my office daily. They coughed, they sneezed, they occasionally put their heads down on the tables and even on the desk. I cleaned daily and as needed.
If that’s “weird” by some standards, I’m fine with that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DW and I are both ES teachers. I have over 30 years in FCPS. We have never had to use our own money to buy things like crayons and pencils. I’ve never pooled supplies and I go through maybe 3 containers of wipes in a school year.

So, does that mean that the desks are never cleaned and the wipes get used for the doors? That nothing gets cleaned and the wipes are used for emergencies? I’m genuinely curious.

I worked in an elementary/middle school in another district. My office had two tables and my desk. Every day I cleaned my desk, the tables, and the doorknobs. So, that’s a minimum 20 wipes a week —or a roll of paper towels and spray. What were you not doing that you only used maybe 3 containers of wipes in a whole school year?

I bought my own supplies, including huge bottles of hand sanitizer and emergency toilet paper.

PP here. I also had a couple of other posts.

Every few days, at minimum, our custodians go over the student desk surfaces with a spray. Every few days or maybe once a week or so (or whenever I notice some looking a bit grimy) I go over them with wipes. One wipe can do at least 3 desks. They never really get to looking bad. Last year custodians were still wiping off classroom door knobs each morning.

Other than during the height of Covid, I’ve never used hand sanitizer. We have sinks with water and hand soap.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From what I gather from this thread, some parents do not want to send supplies to school because:

1. I don’t want to share my money with others.
2. Teachers should supply the materials
3. Teachers should put up with whatever quality supplies the school can give them. If they run out, too bad.
4. Teachers should do a better job of keeping track of pencils, instead of preparing and delivering quality lessons.

IMO the only reason parents shouldn’t send supplies is if they cannot afford them.

Well isn’t that why teachers don’t want to buy the material for their classroom? They have other things they need to do with their money?

Believe it or not, that is also true of parents. Who have already “shared” the money for the supplies in question by paying our local taxes. So if the decision is: do I want to share more money with a classroom who already has cleaning supplies (but perhaps the teacher had to proactively ask for the supplies, or they aren’t the preferred brand) and sharing my money with my family, or any of the other people in our community who desperately need help right now and don’t have the privilege of saying they don’t want to have to wait two days for paper towels.

+1 this exactly. We are also on a budget (only one parent works). I’m not funding preferred brands of teachers when they can use what’s provided by the school for free. And I’m not donating 3 large containers of Clorox wipes - 1 will do.

If you’re financially stretched, nobody expects you to contribute more than your share. If you can’t legitimately afford school supplies, most of these teachers will provide for your child.

However, many if not most families in FCPS are not in that situation. There are families that are financially better off than teachers but they expect the teachers to pay for gaps in school supplies. They come up with all kinds of excuses and gaslight teachers for asking for help. I find these people petty and selfish.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:From what I gather from this thread, some parents do not want to send supplies to school because:

1. I don’t want to share my money with others.
2. Teachers should supply the materials
3. Teachers should put up with whatever quality supplies the school can give them. If they run out, too bad.
4. Teachers should do a better job of keeping track of pencils, instead of preparing and delivering quality lessons.

IMO the only reason parents shouldn’t send supplies is if they cannot afford them.

No
1. Teachers should not request janitorial supplies
2. Teachers should request only what each child needs for the year. One pack of 12 pencils is plenty. One packing 24 crayons is plenty why 4x24 packs

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From what I gather from this thread, some parents do not want to send supplies to school because:

1. I don’t want to share my money with others.
2. Teachers should supply the materials
3. Teachers should put up with whatever quality supplies the school can give them. If they run out, too bad.
4. Teachers should do a better job of keeping track of pencils, instead of preparing and delivering quality lessons.

IMO the only reason parents shouldn’t send supplies is if they cannot afford them.

Well isn’t that why teachers don’t want to buy the material for their classroom? They have other things they need to do with their money?

Believe it or not, that is also true of parents. Who have already “shared” the money for the supplies in question by paying our local taxes. So if the decision is: do I want to share more money with a classroom who already has cleaning supplies (but perhaps the teacher had to proactively ask for the supplies, or they aren’t the preferred brand) and sharing my money with my family, or any of the other people in our community who desperately need help right now and don’t have the privilege of saying they don’t want to have to wait two days for paper towels.

+1 this exactly. We are also on a budget (only one parent works). I’m not funding preferred brands of teachers when they can use what’s provided by the school for free. And I’m not donating 3 large containers of Clorox wipes - 1 will do.

If you’re financially stretched, nobody expects you to contribute more than your share. If you can’t legitimately afford school supplies, most of these teachers will provide for your child.

However, many if not most families in FCPS are not in that situation. There are families that are financially better off than teachers but they expect the teachers to pay for gaps in school supplies. They come up with all kinds of excuses and gaslight teachers for asking for help. I find these people petty and selfish.

What’s “our share” of supplies which are already provided for the teacher but she has to ask “2-7 days” in advance for?

This area just saw mass layoffs and more are coming. Perhaps read the room and clean with the paper towels you don’t like as much this year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From what I gather from this thread, some parents do not want to send supplies to school because:

1. I don’t want to share my money with others.
2. Teachers should supply the materials
3. Teachers should put up with whatever quality supplies the school can give them. If they run out, too bad.
4. Teachers should do a better job of keeping track of pencils, instead of preparing and delivering quality lessons.

IMO the only reason parents shouldn’t send supplies is if they cannot afford them.

No
1. Teachers should not request janitorial supplies
2. Teachers should request only what each child needs for the year. One pack of 12 pencils is plenty. One packing 24 crayons is plenty why 4x24 packs

My last school didn’t provide janitorial supplies so I had to purchase enough for the entire school year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DW and I are both ES teachers. I have over 30 years in FCPS. We have never had to use our own money to buy things like crayons and pencils. I’ve never pooled supplies and I go through maybe 3 containers of wipes in a school year.

So, does that mean that the desks are never cleaned and the wipes get used for the doors? That nothing gets cleaned and the wipes are used for emergencies? I’m genuinely curious.

I worked in an elementary/middle school in another district. My office had two tables and my desk. Every day I cleaned my desk, the tables, and the doorknobs. So, that’s a minimum 20 wipes a week —or a roll of paper towels and spray. What were you not doing that you only used maybe 3 containers of wipes in a whole school year?

I bought my own supplies, including huge bottles of hand sanitizer and emergency toilet paper.

PP here. I also had a couple of other posts.

Every few days, at minimum, our custodians go over the student desk surfaces with a spray. Every few days or maybe once a week or so (or whenever I notice some looking a bit grimy) I go over them with wipes. One wipe can do at least 3 desks. They never really get to looking bad. Last year custodians were still wiping off classroom door knobs each morning.

Other than during the height of Covid, I’ve never used hand sanitizer. We have sinks with water and hand soap.

Nice that the custodians will do that! Thanks for satisfying my curiosity PP.