It seems like every year the list of supplies that parents must buy gets longer. Last year for my middle schooler we had to buy textbooks for heaven's sake! And we have to supply Kleenex (tissues) -- something like 3 boxes to start. What next -- you have to supply toilet paper, too? A water fee?

The schools get record amounts of tax money and yet provide less and less all the time. All this while a few prima donnas at the BOE demand their own personal bathroom (Dr. Morgan) and even now some execs are moving "little people" around so they can get bigger offices to match their egos -- and then deciding that even that isn't big enough, so they want even more.

Grrrr....

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My feelings exactly! For some reason we have to buy 6 dry erase markers. For one teacher. Now with approximately 22-26 kids per class WTH are you going to do with 132/156 dry erase markers? What happened to the chalk and chalkboards. This teacher needs these 6 folder colors and this teacher requires 4 packs of paper.............Nickel and dime. Nickel and dime.

Thank God for Private Schools.

I think it is about time the school board has a standerd for supplys.
Each teacher can no longer have it her or his way.

One kind of paper
One kind of pencil
One kind of folder
This crap of a teacher saying, I must have this and another must have that has got to stop.
How about the parents march on the board of ED and demand a change.

People march for a heck of a lot less.

It is a bit nuts. We are collecting school supplies for a group at our church that hands them out to less fortunate students. I never remember having to buy this much crap to start the year. I completely agree that the higher ups in the board could afford a lot less to give more to the students they are working for.

What happens if the children don't bring in the supplies. I remember we were supposed to have all kinds of crap in middle school that I NEVER EVEN USED (stupid composition notebooks) and it is much worse now. It's funny that as soon as kids hit high school they don't bring anything to school. If you want them to do work you have to supply the paper and pencils (actually I told my students get supplies off of another student). It's even more funny that in middle school teachers are expected to hand out paper and pencils to students that don't have them (so much for school supplies when it hits halfway through the year or so).

I don't see why kids need post it notes, highlighters, hand sanitizers, and tissues, but I know one thing, as a teacher, I'm not buying it for them. (If I WAS a teacher I mean)

I have no gripe with providing my child paper, pencils, pens, a notebook, maybe even dedicated spiral notebooks. But when I have to start buying textbooks, tissues, dry erase markers, and special stuff like that it is getting nuts. Then of course you have to rent locks from the school, and on and on.

And, as I say, I hear from someone closer to the inside than the average person that big money is being wasted by administrators with big egos who, for example, walk around looking for groups of “little people” who share office space that they can kick out of their offices so Mr. Big Ego can have a bigger office all to themselves. Then, sometimes, Mr. Big Ego decides that the new offices space he commandeered isn’t really big enough after all, and so he goes off looking for a new place to conquer.

If we had such a thing as investigative reporting in this area the public would be shocked at the waste while they get hammered every year for more more more.

You have my vote!!! Let's march on the WCBOE!! All the kids need is a paper and pencil & a brain...oh, and some discipline to sit still & respect the teacher..

I for one, Am not going to go over board with buying school supplies.
The heck with the list, I'm going to buy what I think is the most important.

I'm just wondering what the teachers do with all the extra school supplies at the end of the year.

The list for supplies in the private schools isn't too different from the public school list!

The one my daughter goes to is.

Items for her to do what she needs to do.

Walmart states that School supplies are on average 20% cheaper this year.

http://your4state.com/media_player.php?media_id=36831

they are 20% cheaper when there on sale, if they are not already picked through and if they have it. Went there already bought several things but they were out of a lot, it was extremely crowded and rudeness ran amok in the school supply isles. GLAD to be out of there. I really really really dislike the H-town Walmart. I wonder if the Waynesboro Walmart was any better.

Don't know about the Waynesboro one as far as school supplies goes, but I have been told it's a super nice Wal-Mart... The new one over in Martinsburg was really nice, too. I was going to head up to Wal-Mart tomorrow (I hate both the ones in Frederick!) but after your post, Mom - I think I'll take a stab at Taget!

Target has their supplies on sale too and I usually go there. MUCH nicer. We just happened to be at the H-town Walmart. UGH!!!!
The Walmart in Waynesboro is very nice.

I'm going to Target. I tried going to Target at this time last year and they weren't ready. I will not go to the H-town Wal-Mart. Rude is an understatement. The Waynesboro Wal-Mart is very nice, although I have never shopped there for school supplies.
Does anyone have batteries on their list? My son needs to take 4 AAA batteries and 4 dry erase markers just for Math. That is about 10.00 for one class alone. My daughter needs dry erase markers for her class. When she was in 1st. grade she was required to have a zip lock bag full of Art supplies for Art class. (crayons, colored pencils, scissors, and more). She also needed the same supplies for the classroom. When the end of the year came, the bag was returned to her completely untouched.
This year besides the required supplies, there is a wish list that includes:
Clorox wipes
ream of cardstock
ream of colored paper
extra tissues
additional dry erase markers.
The WCBE does not supply the teachers with plain white paper for copies. The teachers have to buy and take their own paper to the copier and make copies. There isn't just a supply of paper there for their use.
I do not understand why the teachers are not provided with what they need to do their job.
Why do we supply the tissues, red pens for correcting, post it notes, gallon freezer bags and sketch books for Art?
I know that there are parents who can not afford to buy everything, but there are the parents who just don't because they feel it's not their responsibility to supply those things. My daughter's 1st grade teacher would degrade the children in front of the class for not having their supplies. I'm sure she isn't the only one. There is also the teachers who just buy extra supplies with their own money for the children. It's not their responsibilty to do that. The Board of Ed. needs to supply certain things for our children's education.

I`m telling you, You have to march on the board and set the standers for school supply.

OPEN YOUR Mouths and raise HELL. I dont have kids. But if I did it would rain pure hell on the BOE.

What happens if you tell them to shove their list where the sun doesn't shine, and do what EVERY responsible parent should do and buy enough supplies for your own child?



Can you say a good old fashioned Hagerstown Beat-Down?

Seriously, if a teacher did that to my child they and Dr. Morgan would find themselves in front of a judge PDQ.

Check the sale fliers in the Sunday paper, there are some great sales on school supplies this time of year. I think it was last week that office Depot had packs of loose-leaf notebook paper for 15 cents and Staples had 2 pocket folders (which seem to be on every school list) for 5 cents each!

I just don't see what they can do if you don't bring in the school supplies. Are students going to call your kid poor? Is the teacher going to call and yell at you? Blah.

Yep, they'll make an @ss out of your child.

Please do, they won't have enough money left over to buy a pot to piss in.

They won't yell at you, but degrade the child in front of the class. I'm not sure what they are trying to accomplish. It's not like they can go out and get the supplies themselves. I have only come across one teacher, who at the time had been teaching 29 years, who has done it in my child's class. That was elem. school.
Most school supplies are pretty inexpensive (folders, lined paper, and notebooks), the basics, and I don't have a problem buying the basics. I will also buy extras for the teacher so that they can have some for kids who don't. Especially if the teacher is young and just starting out.

It's crap! Plain and simple. I worked in Allegany County Schools for 4 years and never did they require (or even ask) that a parent supply anything to the teachers. There was always a room stocked with all different kinds of copy paper and supplies that was supplied by the BOE. There were always plenty of Art Supplies. I will admit that every once in a while in the Middle School they would ask for a minimal fee (usually $1) for a special project for art. But the kids were never "pressured" to bring that in. The teachers I worked with always had plenty and even saved stuff from previous years to use again. If Allegany County can do it with the lower socioeconmic population why the hell can't Washington County?? Oh wait... I forgot fancy bathrooms on Commonwealth Ave. and fancy schools for the McMansion dwellers take priority.

Ultimately it's just plain sad. I am all for helping those that truly need it, that why we have the program at our church. However, when the school officials can't help the students that they were hired to serve, there is the problem. Let's look at who "has to have" there own private offices and bathrooms, and who “has to have” vehicle allowances and start pairing back the budget there and putting the money where it is needed and SHOULD be used. On the bright side, at least my daughter is only going to be two this September; I have a little time to work on this issue.

I was wondering if maybe I just lived in a different time but guess not. I went K-12 in Allegany County and never took anything extra in for anyone. Hell before High School I don't think that we took any supplies at all to school. The school supplied everything. However, I graduated 15 years ago.

Side note:
There is no excuse for a kid to go to school without supplies though. Children in Need will provide school supplies to any needy child in Washington County.

Side note 2:
In the last 2 previous jobs I have had to go into the schools in Washington County and make copies of school attendance and records for eligibility purposes. I have been asked numerous times to bring along my own paper because the secretaries are allotted a certain number of sheets and when it is gone, no more copies.

I grew up in Blair County, PA. I never had to take any school supplies, especially tissues, to school until High school. I remember the same supply rooms mentioned above for the teachers and the Art room.
It wasn't until I had kids and lived in Montgomery Co. that I had to start with this supply list. I was blown away. The Kindergarten teachers went to yard sales and spent their own money to get things for their classrooms. Every year I'm amazed at what is put on the list. I probably wouldn't have known about the teachers suppling their own paper had I not volunteered in my child's class and had to make copies. The teacher told me to make sure I brought back any paper not used. I think the look on my face must have said it all when she told me that she had to supply her own paper during the year. The PTA does give the teacher a yearly amount of money. It was 100.00 one year, but I'm not sure if that goes up and down based on what is made through out the year.
Do the teachers get any allowance from the BOE?

Probably really stupid question, but I have to ask, as I don't have kids so I have no experience in this:

Don't our taxes fund the "general" school supplies, i.e., things needed in the classroom other than your own pens, pencils, and notebooks? What has changed that kids have to supply dry erase markers and kleenex now?

One would think, I think this is an excellent question for the WashCo. Commissioners to ask the next time the School Board when it asks for another increase in their budget. Kid, your thoughts

One would think that, but......

Building all these new unneeded schools has literally taken food out of the mouth of babes.

Unneeded schools, did you not see the list of how many portable TRAILERS that the kids in Wash. County are learning in. Maybe it has more to do with the salaries that are paid over on Commonwealth.

Clever, I thought so too. I would also like to know what happened to the general supply fund for our teachers.
I can understand parents supplying the basic necessities like paper, pens, pencils, folders, ruler, protractor, scissors, glue...... BUT not this teacher prefers glue sticks and this one prefers elmers glue and you need (5) colors of dry erase markers and they have to be Expo not dollar store brand or Roseart. The PTA (atleast ours did) does give each teacher a supply fund and I think it is $25.00. That does'nt last long, so teachers do buy some of their own supplies that they need. I'm also pretty sure it is a tax write-off when they buy their supplies...up to a certain amount of course.

As far as the copier situation, I know from volunteering at various schools they have a meter on their copiers and each teacher has a code to enter under, they keep track (your alloted) and then tell you your using it to much. The teachers also supply their own colored paper.

Maybe it's the new school plaques that are dipping into our general supply fund. <sarcasim>

Agreed, the 3 new schools were needed. The old schools were beyond their life expectancy and were to old to renovate. If only there was a little more cooperation between parents and the School Board during the planned redistricting, even the Rockland Woods School wouldn't have appeared un-needed.

More stuff on our list...batteries (wtf???) and paper towels. Several packs of colored pencils.

Where's Kid -- good idea -- let's ask him his position as a Commissioner...

All you self-proclaimed experts on the school system floor me. Unless you work at the Board or are a teacher, you are just assuming, generalizing, and exaggerating. People think they are experts on schools just because they attended school or have children who attend. Those experiences do not make someone anymore of an expert that my seeing a doctor or lawyer makes me an expert on medicine or the law!

Nobody here claimed to be an expert on the board, at least I didn't. I think the majority of us just want answers. If you seem to know something then share it with us. Where are the monies for school supplies going then? Why do parents have to buy so many extras to be turned over to the teachers? Why can't all the extra supplies be kept at home for the students whose parents purchased them? Are you saying that there is no way to cut un-needed expenditures within the Board's budget and re-direct them back to the students? Again, don't call us out if you aren't going to tell us why we are so wrong in our assumptions.

Each year gets more costly - my daughter goes to a private high school so I not only have all the school supplies, I have to purchase all of her books as well.

So you must work for the BOE or you are guilty of the same thing. In that case fill us in. We'd all like to know what we are missing here. Unless you are the lady that caused a stink about her name not being on the plaque. If you are I dont care to hear what you have to say

BTW- I am not on or work for the BOE but I did stay at a Holiday Inn express last night

It would help if you corrected us or explained exactly what we were exaggerating instead of just saying that.

As an intern for 12+ weeks I was told by teachers that the school doesn't give them enough money to buy supplies and that a lot is out of pocket. If the school doesn't give it to me, I wouldn't use it, period. If they don't give me new markers I'd use powerpoint or something, because they are supposed to give you that stuff.

I don't see why being a parent isn't enough to go off of. You have your child's school list, and that is what we are referring to.

Anyway...it is NOT ok to have to buy supplies for ALL of the students in a class. Whatever school is doing that needs to stop. I think school lists are pretty dumb to begin with. You never use all of that crap, and some of it isn't practical. I remember coming in the first day of middle school with a full backpack without the books in it. Highlighters, folders, and composition notebooks that I never used. Ugh. High school is so much nicer.

Yes, inquiring minds want to know: Why are standard school supplies, such as paper, pencils, crayons, and folders unfunded in Washington County??? Seems to me there is plenty of money to throw around creating new departments, getting free lunch paid for(which someone has to apply for--therefore this is a paid grant writer/applier position)...
tell us Chief==we wanna know why our hard earned taxes have to be spent on new bathrooms instead??

No one claimed anything; people were just giving personal experiences and until you came along no one had an attitude problem. Since you are so damn smart why don't you inform us all how it really is? Oh yea I did stay at a holiday inn express last night and it sounds like you might need a colonoscopy because something is stuck up your a$$.


Damnit Samy, I did not see your reply before I typed, so now it is not as funny.

Great minds think alike

btw-anything to do with cheif geting a colonoscopy is funny

Move to PA. There is a reason they call it "Tax Hell".

I have NEVER gotten a list of required supplies for my kids in PA schools as EVERYTHING is supplied by the school system (Waynesboro and Greencastle School Systems).

I have had, however, the occassional teacher that REQUESTS something special, for instance, last year during the MRSA fiasco, it was SUGGESTED that the kids bring Purell or some other antibacterial hand wash.

Yeah, Chiefy, show us where we're wrong. Double dare ya!

Well, if you all look back to a thread that I think I started last year (maybe two years), you will find my comments on this very issue, and if I recall correctly some lengthy discussion and interesting opinions on the matter.

First, the Commissioners are required to provide funding to the BOE via a certain formula, we are not the overseers of that entity as they have their own board elected by the public to do so. Therefore, such questions and concerns that involve implmentation of policies and regulatory measures are more appropriately directed as that board which has the sole authority to make such decisions.

Second, I agree that it is difficult to understand why the list continues to grow, given that the BOE funding received from the County and State has doubled since 2000, much of which can be attributed to the Thornton funds and increases by the county for outstanding maintenance projects.

The math that one poster provided is not correct, as supplies are not brought in on a one to one ratio, b/c there are students that have parents that cannot afford to or simply are negligent in meeting the requests made. I am not certain what the ratio is, but would venture a guess that 25% of the requests per student are not met, which means it must be made up by having other students bring in more than their fair share.

My personal opinion is that when my children are of age and start attending school, I will purchase and provide for THEM the supplies that THEY will need to achieve proper academic instruction. I will have no difficulty in helping out with costs for exrtracurricular activities they may be involved in or special projects in their classrooms, but my budget will not include provision of supplies for more than the children that I have.

There are two basic reasons for this thought process.

1. There are numerous programs made available through voluntary (of which I contribute to) and publicly taxp ayer subsized that already exist that serve this function.

2. There are numerous people in this community that continue to have children that simply cannot afford such basic provisions that are required in being a parent, some of which who do not care about the consequences and feel entitled to increased public subsidies.

That's nice, since the parents are stupid and keep having kids they can't afford, lets make the children suffer.

As soon as some of these parents realize it is easier to change a condom than a diaper, this community will be much better off.

Are you sure you are not a Republican?

No Phil, I am not a republican, just pointing out some of the realities within a community.

Ud, I think you missed my entire post. I clearly point out that there are numerous avenues that support such programs for children on both a voluntary and publicly funded level, both of which I have some hand in giving funds to. That being said, I do not think it is appropriate for parents to be triple dipped upon at every turn.

I am not naive enough to believe there is a cookie cutter to address every circumstance, but I am also not naive enough to believe that there aren't folks out there continually exploiting the system, and to that end, if you want to talk about children suffering...then you need ot make the connection that to continue in this manner having such subsidies escalate, our kids are exactly hte ones that will be suffering to pay the bills on running such operations that borrow on the future financial stability of the governing (public) taxdollar.

(tap tap tap) Is this thing on? Chief, most of us are still waiting to hear why we were so wrong yesterday.