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SCHOOLS
Back-to-school shopping gets easier in Cabell
0819 Supplies
HUNTINGTON -- Marie Dawson used to buy three of everything -- packs of crayons, stacks of notebooks, tissues -- before sending her twin fourth-graders and third-grader to school.
This year, Dawson can use the $150 to $200 she'd typically spend on school supplies for other things for her children.
Last year, Cabell County Schools told parents they could send their children to school without supplies, saying everything needed to learn would be provided.
Officials, teachers and parents alike say that policy, which continues this year, has gone well.
"We found it to be very successful," said Jed Flowers, director of communications for Cabell County Schools.
Flowers estimated $30 to $40 per student is given to schools for supplies.
Superintendent Bill Smith said schools are adequately funded to cover the costs, and none came back to ask for additional money last year. Supplies include such items as pencils, paper, erasers, glue and even antiseptic wipes so teachers can clean headphones.
Backpacks are one of the few things not supplied by schools, though area churches and businesses have been known to collect and donate such items, Smith said.
Dawson said the change has greatly eased back-to-school shopping. She said many parents had it even tougher.
"It should have been done a long time ago," she said.
In the past, teachers would provide lists for parents, as they often asked what their children needed for school. Flowers said the practice was innocent, but the lists grew over the years and even retailers got in on it, adding their own suggestions.
Dawson said she used to pick up a list from Wal-Mart and mark off the items as she threw three of each into her cart.
"You had to have so many of everything to last the whole school year," she said.
With 50 percent of students qualifying for free and reduced lunch rates in Cabell County schools, much of the population is under the federal poverty line, Flowers said. He said he has heard some parents say they were deciding between food and school supplies.
"That's not a situation we want to put our parents in," he said.
Now, even required reading books over the summer are provided, he said.
Smith said the state previously pointed out that lists sent home with students gave parents the impression they had to buy certain things for their children.
"That's not the message we as public schools want to send," he said.
Amy Maynard sees back-to-school shopping from two sides, as a third-grade teacher at Peyton Elementary School and parent of a second-grader at Geneva Kent Elementary School.
As a parent, she said she liked having a list because her son got excited to buy supplies.
"It's always fun to go back-to-school shopping," she said.
In her own class, Maynard will have tote bags full of supplies ready for her students.
Jenny Walton, who teaches third grade at Spring Hill Elementary School, said the policy especially makes preparing for school easier for parents with many children.
"The way the economy is right now, I could see where it would be a tremendous burden on some of these families," she said.
In her nearly 30 years of teaching, Walton said she has seen some parents struggle just to buy school clothes and keep food on the table. Providing supplies gives them one less thing to worry about, she said.
It also prevents children from feeling embarrassed if they don't have the same kinds of supplies as their peers. Pencils and crayons are a big deal for third-graders, she said.
Flowers agreed.
"We all really do care about the kids, and we don't want them to be embarrassed," he said.
Back to school calendar
Wednesday, Aug. 20: First day of school for St. Joseph Central Catholic High School (half day).
Thursday, Aug. 21: First day of school for St. Joseph Grade School.
Tuesday, Aug. 26: First day of school for all public schools in West Virginia and Ironton City Schools in Ohio.
Already open: Schools in Kentucky and other schools in Ohio opened earlier this month.
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