Am I the only one who is ticked about the "school supply" lists?

[hotcouponmama]

LMAO at all these answers!!! We stopped at starbucks on the way to a swim meet and my 6 year old asked me while dad was in getting his coffee "Did you tell dad I drink coffee and he needs to bring me one, F.O.I?" Well, he meant FYI, and it just had me rolling.

Above and beyond the list, there's a $12 per kid classroom fund for the teacher for discretionary income to do things with, and a $10 per kid 1x for "emergency supplies".

And I love the branded supplies - Ticonderoga pencils, fiskar scissors, Elmers glue, Pearl erasers.....

I'm thinking they are getting camoflauge pencils the wasteful recruiters were going to toss cause the camo on the army uniforms changed a few years ago and they wanted pencils to match, so we have about 3000 old-style camo pencils.....

They are gonna get the .05c Office depot pencil cap erasers, and OD labeled everything else that was free/cheap....

Glue is glue....mine is about 3 different brands right now including the elmers....

I am not doing pens or dry erase markers....Our school doesn't do the white boards for the kids like someone posted, which I think would be cool if they did, but these are for the big boards, and really, will they go through 20+ 4-packs in one year? I don't even use up a single sharpie in a year personally for work.

I'll do the ziploc bags and baby wipes, but they are going to get whatever brand is onsale, not what stacks. They can use mine up first.

And I think the snack thing is funny too cause when I was the Food Service director in the district, I had started a free KG/preschool snack program which they still offer, but they still want snacks.....

And then of course, you really want to get me going, there's a major fundraiser every month. Our PTA raises about $50K per year (per school) in the district. And I have the highest freakin' property taxes in the state! It's mind boggling how much money our district blows through!

[extechy]

I posted our list in another thread. It isn't so bad this year.

I will admit I'm a little ticked about the copy paper. Most times, the kids are not allowed to write on the copies! They had to recopy the work onto notebook paper and include the answers. Surely schools aren't hurting THAT much.

[Andra]

I'm just amazed at all these "lists" I keep hearing about. I think it's crazy for the school or teachers to ask for that stuff. When I was a kid there was no "list". In elementary school, Mom took me shopping and I got one, maybe two pads of notebook paper, some pens and pencils. The school provided a chalk board writing tablet for practicing letters (returned at the end of the year), books (which we returned at the end of the year), art supplies (maybe these were donated by parents, but not mine that I knew about), rulers (which were heavy wooden ones re-used each year not those flimsy plastic ones), copy paper (this was pre-computer time though, anyone remember the old copy machines that produced blue-ink copies?). Oh, and I remember we had to make book covers for our text books out of paper bags to keep them from getting beat-up. They sold fancy book covers in the store but I was never allowed to get them.

In middle school and high school we got a small "list" for each class, but it was just the things we would need individually for that class (like if the teacher expected us to have a 1" notebook, graphing calculator, etc). And as for things like calculators or protractors our teachers always had two or three that they lent out for students that couldn't afford them. I don't know if the teachers had to buy these items themselves, but the calculators said "property of such and such High School" on them so I always assumed the school bought them. :shrug7:

I did NOT live in a rich area. I lived in Small-Town, USA population about 3000 back then.

[my3girlz]

OK, I'll stop complaining about our lists now...LOL. So far, we haven't gotten any additional fees for items we've already bought. THAT IS CRAZY!

However, I'm not liking the branded supplies either. Both my kids had Fiskar scissors last year on their lists and they got the cheapy kind...worked just fine, in fact I confiscated DD#1's when they came back home this summer, b/c they are larger than her sister's, but small enough to make great coupon clipping scissors And each year DD#2's list asked for 18 ct Crayola crayons...last year she had a pack of 24 & I told her to tell her teacher she could send me the "extra" six back if they were in the way, as I only paid about $.05 for those, whereas the 18 ct was over $1 at most stores

[RamRez5]

Originally Posted by extechy I posted our list in another thread. It isn't so bad this year. I will admit I'm a little ticked about the copy paper. Most times, the kids are not allowed to write on the copies! They had to recopy the work onto notebook paper and include the answers. Surely schools aren't hurting THAT much.

The copy paper...one year DS lost a permission slip so I asked teacher for another. She said she only had enough for class, so she hand wrote the whole permission slip. When I returned the signed slip I also brought a box of paper to the front office. Prin & Asst Prin were so grateful for my generousity, until I explained to them why I brought the paper, their facial expressions went from grateful to embarrassed. Now that I think about it, copy paper is not included on the supply list, I guess they cut their handsanitizer budget to pay for the paper, because now that is the WTH item on my list. I wonder how they would feel if I sent my 50+ trial size purell (that I don't remember where I got them) on the first day of school.

[jesslyn591]

This is my first time posting, but I did want to comment to this thread as a teacher so hopefully some of the things can be explained. First of all a previous poster was correct that all schools in a district and or building have to come up with one list so sometimes things are put on the list that some teachers do not use. Unfortunately, you always seen to have that one teacher who HAS to have something we feel is unnecessary and they will not budge on it...most of us hate that too and feel really bad.

As for the coffee filters, I will say that they are most likely not for the teacher's lounge. I use them for a multitude of purposes including art projects, containers for snacks (kleenex and paper towels lead to things flying all over the table, the sides on the filters contain everything), we use them for sorting activities and a bunch of other things I can't remember.

Dry Erase markers, honestly we do go through alot of them. Remember that there are usually 20+ kids per room and I used them on a daily basis so I actually had to replenish my stock by the end of the year out of my own pocket. Kids leave the tops off, they push too hard and the tip goes in etc.

Copy paper. I can totally see where this is an issue, but I will explain how it has been in my last two districts. We are not allowed to take copy paper from the paper room. So when I need white paper for projects or more importantly for the computer printer, it is my responsibility to provide it. The last three years each teacher has had a limit of 2,000 copies for the year and we have run out of paper before the year is out and there is no money to get more. The bulk of the paper is used for communication home to parents so that is why it is not available for us to have.

For some of the others, tennis balls, yes we use them, but it is ridiculous to have parents provide them! Play it again sports and ask for donations and you would be good to go. Lysol wipes, in my building we have decided to suck it up and buy these instead of putting them on lists. I use them alot and they cost me a fortune even when they are on sale and I cannot submit them for reimbursement because they are not instructional so I can see how some teachers do put them on the list.

So to sum it up, yes schools can be wasteful and there are things that don't get used, we honestly try to do the best we can, but education is not cheap. Budgets for rising gas prices mean that money is taken from other areas and most often that is the teacher's discretionary funds for things like ink cartridges (yes very few schools provide them for their teachers...I have 4 computer printers and have to buy those cartridges which right now is around $150 - one is a laser printer that only I use for special ed paperwork and then I go have them refilled at walgreens as needed), art supplies, etc.

Finally, not all parents are a conscientious and good as you are. Last year about one third of my kids came with incomplete or no supplies. Their parents either couldn't or wouldn't provide supplies so it fell on myself or others in the building to do so. So as is the way in this country now, the haves have to make up for the have not's. I do my best to keep supplies with kids, and teach sharing for those who don't have.

I hope this rambling makes sense and you know that we as teachers are doing the best we can to provide your children with the best education we can with the limited supplies we have!

[extechy]

Jesslyn, I know where you are coming from in your next to last paragraph. I posted about that in another school supply thread. That's percisely why I don't complain anymore about the supplies becoming community property. I am fortunate enough to have always provided the items on the list. I don't think it's fair to ostracize the children whose parents can't or don't buy supplies. They still have to learn.

I am still a little confused about the copy paper situation though I always supply it, too. One year, my daughter had to return many of her papers and they had to be in excellent condition with no markings on them. That was pretty tough to do being that she was in 2nd grade.

[mrsrudyjax]

I so agree with you on this. I was buying the pre-packaged school supplies from the PTA each year. I decided not to when they wanted $58. I've bought most of the stuff on the list, and have spent less than $10.

I know I'll be ticked when school starts and each teacher sends home a list of additional stuff they need.

[DianeScraps]

My school does seperate lists from each teacher, and we get them between 5 and 10 days before school starts.

The first year I almost had a panic attack when I saw the list. Now I have gotten better at anticpating. I expect to see Ziplocs, Paper Towels, Hand Sanitzer, Tissues, Clorox Wipes, Dry Erase markers etc. As well as the individual child supplies

The thing that irks me is that my Mom works in the district, and the teachers have an order form that they can fill out to get things from the district, no $ limit, and almost everything they request is on that list?!?!?! I know that tissues aren't on it though, and I do make sure to send in tons of them

[couponfanatic]

This is the first year we've gotten a "normal" list.
2 years ago- Monster List, didn't know better, followed the list. Then (after drop-off on drop-off day) we commneted on it an were told: We know most of the kids won't bring anything, so each kid gets a list for supplies for the WHOLE Class. That way, at least one family will probably do it and supply the class. I was outraged beyond words.
Last year- Less obnoxios, but still too much, I sent what I knew DD needed personally. And made sure to label everthing. i.e. each individual crayon had her name on it.
This year- list looks "normal". They must have figured it out finally.

And as for the mid-year "we're out of cleaning supplies" requests- they go unanswered by me.

I will gladly supply what my child will use. I do not supply other children, nor do I supply the janitorial staff.