Why do parents have to buy school supplies in public schools?

[Anonymous]

Because of financial mismanagement of the school systems.

[Anonymous]

I feel ok if they charge us parents school supply fee instead of send in school supply or order school supply box ( except for low income area and families), it’s much easier and cheaper that way if fcps or school order large quantity from manufacturers directly ( one school supplies box cost nearly $95 for my 4th grader to be).

[Anonymous]

My kids are at a parochial school and we have to buy paper towels, sanitizing wipes and so on as well as office supplies. It's exactly the same as public school in that regard.

[Anonymous]

geez, louise, we have been sending in tissues since the caveman days! of course, things like tissues and sanitizer are pooled! do you want each kid to have his or her own box of tissues?

granted, maybe the schools don't really need all the stuff they ask for (6 packs of crayons per kid), but they do need some basics like tissues. should the school supply them? yes, i guess they should, but i guess they don't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I feel ok if they charge us parents school supply fee instead of send in school supply or order school supply box ( except for low income area and families), it’s much easier and cheaper that way if fcps or school order large quantity from manufacturers directly ( one school supplies box cost nearly $95 for my 4th grader to be).

Public schools just aren't set up that way. Theoretically, taxes are supposed to cover it but that support system is quite frayed. If the school is asking, they need something now, not in 2 years. Sometimes millages can only pay for certain things. In my town, you can only do capital improvements/repairs with millage money.

The reason they ask for donations and common class supplies is to cover people who don't have $95 extra during late August or don't want to chip in.

I also got frustrated about donating paper towels bought at per roll prices so I decided, per my post above, to see what actually got used and buy more of that. So skipped half the tiny things and bought $30 of Lysol Wipes on special, printer paper, etc.

[Anonymous]

If the alternative is my kids not having hand soap at school, I’m happy to supply it. We can afford it, and my kids attend a Title 1 school too, so I know many of their classmates parents likely can’t. Should our tax dollars cover this stuff? Absolutely. But I think it builds school community to be willing to help provide for others.

[Anonymous]

Taxes dont cover enough teachers or janitorial services. I buy a ton of supplies and dont care if other kids get access to them who couldn't afford it. School funding comes from property taxes. Its not even across the county.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I feel ok if they charge us parents school supply fee instead of send in school supply or order school supply box ( except for low income area and families), it’s much easier and cheaper that way if fcps or school order large quantity from manufacturers directly ( one school supplies box cost nearly $95 for my 4th grader to be).

I agree- but $95 for school supplies is a lot. The PTA makes some money from that, because it's cheaper to get everything on your own, but it's a huge pain to find specific brand composition books in 3 different colors, etc.

We also have piles of old school supplies at home from when they send home leftover items at the end of the year. I'll try to repurpose some of those this year.

[Anonymous]

I buy the supplies myself (not the kit) and it never been more than $60. That’s not a hardship for most (but not all) families. And no one is checking if you don’t send anything in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My child just entered public school and there is a list of items that we are supposed to send in, such as tissues and hand sanitizers. It is my understanding that these supplies are pooled in the classroom, so it is not the case that these supplies are for individual use.

I cannot imagine it is cost-effective for the schools to beg from the parents in this way. Moreover, --wouldn't it be more economical for the schools to buy these items in bulk? It's quite expensive and if families are poor, it is not cheap to buy lysol wipes or boxes of tissues.

Why do our school taxes not cover school supply expenses? Surely this is something that could be budgeted for.

It probably is cost effective. The schools would find a way to buy the lowest quality items at the highest prices.

[Anonymous]

Our schools are underfunded, and classroom supplies are limited. Most teachers spend a lot of their own money on classroom supplies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel ok if they charge us parents school supply fee instead of send in school supply or order school supply box ( except for low income area and families), it’s much easier and cheaper that way if fcps or school order large quantity from manufacturers directly ( one school supplies box cost nearly $95 for my 4th grader to be).

I agree- but $95 for school supplies is a lot. The PTA makes some money from that, because it's cheaper to get everything on your own, but it's a huge pain to find specific brand composition books in 3 different colors, etc.

We also have piles of old school supplies at home from when they send home leftover items at the end of the year. I'll try to repurpose some of those this year.

Most of last year’s stuff is unusable. Maybe send the scissors and rulers in but used crayons, erasers, pencils with no eraser left, smashed glue sticks, and dry markers just won’t do. Just get the list and buy the supplies yourself and you will spend less than $95 and don’t worry if it’s not exactly the same. 12 crayons are better than 8 anyway.

[Anonymous]

It is ridiculous. Look I clearly don't think teachers should be paying for this stuff OOP and I always bring in everything that's asked for. But we pay very high taxes in MoCo and it's crazy this basic stuff isn't provided for.

I went to very average public schools growing up and we did not have to bring in any of this stuff. Nor did I hear of teachers having to make these bull purchases. It feels like schools were run in a more common sense way back then.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is ridiculous. Look I clearly don't think teachers should be paying for this stuff OOP and I always bring in everything that's asked for. But we pay very high taxes in MoCo and it's crazy this basic stuff isn't provided for.

I went to very average public schools growing up and we did not have to bring in any of this stuff. Nor did I hear of teachers having to make these bull purchases. It feels like schools were run in a more common sense way back then.

I lived in several "good" school districts. We used old-fashioned stuff.

I remember getting free lined, unbleached brown paper notepads, #2 pencils, fat Crayola crayon sets, and plops of white paste on a piece of paper towel. The school had communal watercolor paint sets and tempera paint in big jars.

Kleenex was not stocked in classrooms, I remember going to the office and paying 10 cents to get a tissue in 10th grade.

No glue sticks

Very little colored marker use and occasional colored pencil use. No dry erase or whiteboards. Only chalkboards.

Occasional composition notebooks. I feel like we were given these when needed.

Mostly used looseleaf lined paper until high school

No mandatory color coded folders by subject

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is ridiculous. Look I clearly don't think teachers should be paying for this stuff OOP and I always bring in everything that's asked for. But we pay very high taxes in MoCo and it's crazy this basic stuff isn't provided for.

I went to very average public schools growing up and we did not have to bring in any of this stuff. Nor did I hear of teachers having to make these bull purchases. It feels like schools were run in a more common sense way back then.

I lived in several "good" school districts. We used old-fashioned stuff.

I remember getting free lined, unbleached brown paper notepads, #2 pencils, fat Crayola crayon sets, and plops of white paste on a piece of paper towel. The school had communal watercolor paint sets and tempera paint in big jars.

Kleenex was not stocked in classrooms, I remember going to the office and paying 10 cents to get a tissue in 10th grade.

No glue sticks

Very little colored marker use and occasional colored pencil use. No dry erase or whiteboards. Only chalkboards.

Occasional composition notebooks. I feel like we were given these when needed.

Mostly used looseleaf lined paper until high school

No mandatory color coded folders by subject

It's almost as if times have changed. 🤯 I'm in my 50's, my parents bought school supplies.

My youngest is 24. We always had to send school supplies.