<p>" ... By surveying national chain retail store prices for a list of supplies and fees typically required for the various grade levels, including a backpack to carry it all in, Huntington determined that parents of elementary school students can expect to pay an average $530 this year. That's up from $474 last year, an increase of almost 12 percent.</p>
<p>For middle school students, costs will rise to an average $682, from $545 in 2010 up 25 percent.</p>
<p>Expenses for high school students, which include college-prep materials for taking tests like the SAT, jumped to an average $1,094 from $1,003, a 9 percent increase ..."</p>
<p>Maybe I'm outta touch, but these numbers seem high. Agree? Disagree?</p>
<p>I’m sure my kids could spend this much money on Hollister or Ambercombie and Fitch et. al. We spend maybe $150 per child in school supplies and back to school clothes - with two daughters we have been able to milk the hand-me-down process quite well.</p>
<p>This year Algebra I requires a new calculigator ($135 once my Best Buy coupons show up) and 1st year Architecture supplies require FAFSA on their own accord…</p>
<p>Very high. When i was in elementary we maybe spent 100 on supplies, same is true through highschoolm Me thinks they don’t know how to shop sales.</p>
<p>The article starts out talking about sports fees, but then goes to supplies. I read it very quickly, so I didn’t make the connection of whether the numbers included sports fees and supplies or just supplies.</p>
<p>Around here, up through middle school, there are no school sports. It is all recreation league and club teams. Those families probably spend more than the numbers quoted depending on the sport and the level.</p>
<p>However, for supplies (the article does not talk about clothing) the numbers seem high. I always felt like I spent about $150 per child for supplies, but more if they needed a calculator or new backpack. The private schools the kids have attended did not have near the supply list that the public schools had. DS’s school has a $650. technology fee that keeps his laptop running.</p>
<p>The numbers seem high, but it is not clear what they are including.</p>
<p>Our public school district limits fees that clubs, band and sports can charge. Band charges a $30 dry cleaning fee per participant, the rest of the considerable costs of transportation, fees for competitions etc., are raised by the music boosters’ fund raising. </p>
<p>Sports teams are funded minimally by the district. New uniforms and equipment are paid for through the sports boosters fundraising efforts.</p>
<p>However, I once added up our out of pocket expenses for musical instruments, lessons, four day long music department trips, participation in all-state, sports equipment, club teams in the off season, SAT books, tutoring for a couple of bumps in the road, SAT and ACT and AP tests, college applications and visits, etc… Yeesh! It was so much more than our parents ever spent on us!</p>
<p>how in the world does one spend $100 on school supplies for just one person. you just need pencils, pens (reusable from previous years anyways), lined paper, binders, and notebooks. you don’t need 100 of each of those items. that can’t possibly cost more than $50-$75 if you’re just going to staples or office depot and whatnot. and unless your backpack has been ripped/torn/shred to pieces or has received a good spill of an unsightly stain-causing, malodorous liquid, i don’t think one needs to buy another one every single year… (note: my definition of school supplies does not include school-required fees such as materials fees in art classes. i refer to school supplies one purchases independent of institutional mandate)</p>
<p>The article also makes it sound like it includes SAT prep stuff. Exactly what kind of SAT prep, and after what grade do they start adding it in? Also, what kinds of scissors and backpacks are these kids buying that they can’t re-use them each year? haha</p>
<p>Some states (our accursed state being one of them) charges book fees - $125 or so for K-12, and easily $200-250 for HS. No sports fees. Some of the material heavy art classes charge some minor fees, but other classes (including one where the students build a 1200 sq ft house from scratch) no fees…</p>
<p>Our elementary schools are asking parents to supply the classroom basics that used to be covered by budgets that have been cut. Kids’ supply lists include: box of tissues, box of quart sized ziplock bags, construction paper, roll of paper towels, hand sanitizer, soft soap and other supplies for the entire class to share, not just for your own child to use. We spent a lot of money on supplies during those years.</p>
<p>When I went to middle school I had paper and pencils. Maybe some annoying teacher would have “notebook checks” so we’d have to buy a notebook. Where do these numbers come from? What are they purchasing?</p>
<p>I get the feeling the article was written more for shock value to get people to read it, and less to inform readers of anything.</p>
<p>$100 for supplies does seem very high. My one remaining high schooler is using the same backpack from last year, and I think we have most of the supplies he will need around the house. Last year I found 2 different TI programmable calcs on craigslist for $10 and $15, so we have a calc. and a back-up for whatever reason. I do think a lot of the costs for high school have gotten pretty outlandish. As a freshman, I had to buy him PE clothes but that was a one-time cost. Other expenditures each year include a yearbook at $75, maybe $75 or so for books (this is for required English reading- the school will provide copies, but the kids can’t mark in them), around $225 for transportation fees (includes bus transportation for 3 sports), around $600 for 3 sports (includes booster fees and uniforms), about $50 for a “spirit” card ( free admission to sporting events, discounted dance tickets, etc.), and probably another $50 for field trips. Supposedly all of the booster fees are optional, but the school does not fund sports so it is not all that optional. I’m sure the cost of a lot of these things prohibits many kids from participating!</p>
<p>I still have packs of filler paper and spiral notebooks that I’ve bought over the years. I stock up when I see the $0.10 notebooks and penny filler paper sales. I can’t imagine that I’ve spent more than $40 in any year without including the backpack and calculator.</p>
<p>I can understand the high costs in high school, particularly if your student is a senior. Between prom costs, graduation photos, college applications and visits to the colleges, the price tag is high. </p>
<p>Fortunately, my youngest son, a rising HS sophomore, is fairly low maintenance. He does not need to wear this shirt with this label or that label. My biggest cost with him is running shoes, but he does need good “equipment” so he can develop as a distance runner and avoid injuries. As for buying school supplies, back packs last a couple of years. We stock up on paper, pens and pencils. He has had the same calculator for three years. He has not started to do heavy research on colleges, but I do not envision him applying to 11 schools like his older brother did. He’s the “one and done” kind of kid.</p>
<p>I have met some students (I teach at a public HS) who need the latest this or that. Frankly, my son just does not understand why they need all those “things.”</p>
<p>That seems incredibly high- I think I had 2 backpacks total from K to 12, both from LL Bean. I finally gave in my first semester in college and bought a new one (also LL Bean) with a laptop sleeve and a few more pockets for this and that. I’m fully expecting it to last me through grad school. I wasn’t concerned with having the coolest pencils or folders or notebooks. I took what my mother gave me and said thank you.</p>
<p>I guess we must be chintzy. We only paid for supplies - No SAT Prep courses, no pay to play sports. That made our average cost something like $60-100. Very misleading title for the article.</p>
<p>^ Love those LLBean backpacks! One for elem school one for middle, and another for hs. The hs one’s have gone to college because they’re still ticking. I do know one would like a NorthFace, but that’s on his dime.</p>
<p>The supplies can get expensive when you have 7 teachers that all want specific size binders for their own subjects, etc. We average about $150/kid. When the sales come in the summer we stock the storage room with basics they will need (red/black/blue pens, highlighters, paper, etc.). The TI calc only has to be bought once, not every year.</p>
<p>As far as activities, their EC costs on average $240/year through the school w/o travel expenses. We don’t count that along with school supplies. We think the activity is worthwhile on a number of levels and accept that it’s a non-funding activity.</p>
<p>We spend far more for our kids than we ever spent ourselves. </p>
<p>We have to supply tissues, paper towels, sanitizer, white board markers, etc. My kids go to a private school. Our public school actually requires more items and fees for ECs. I definitely think it is quite a bit of money, but not near the amounts stated in the article.</p>
<p>The biggest single ticket item for us is the TI calculator.</p>
<p>My backpack rule is $15/year average – so, if you want a new one every year, the kid better be buying the cheap one. Like many others, we get multiple years out of the backpack. Lunch packs have been another issue – finally find YakPak brand that will last multiple years.</p>
<p>For some one who wants a Northface backpack and jackets/clothes I have been lucky finding them at TJ Maxx and Marshalls. For less than a thrid of the MSRP. Both sons wanted one and has lasted through college (made numerous trips around the US for med school interviews), and is on its way to med school. Same place I picked up son’s NF jacket.</p>
<p>Bought backpack replacement last year, same store, and it is put away for when the current one dies.</p>