ack-to-school shopping will be easier for parents of Cobleskill-Richmondville students this month.
They’ll have to do a lot less shopping because C-R is providing many school supplies this year.
After considering the idea for a couple of years, school board members agreed to use federal stimulus money and other funds to buy supplies for students.
“Parents are not going to foot the bill for what kids need this year,” Superintendent Lynn Macan said.
C-R won’t provide such items as backpacks and lunch boxes, but it will buy notebooks, pens, pencils, glue sticks, markers, index cards, binders and looseleaf paper, among others.
Ms. Macan said the list of things to buy C-R sent to parents in the past was getting more elaborate––and expensive.
“We were hearing that parents were spending $50 to $75,” she said. “That’s a lot for many families. There will be no lists this year.
“In our estimation this was a priority, especially for families with multiple kids and families who are struggling.”
Parents can use the money they would have spent on supplies for other needs, in effect stimulating the economy, Ms. Macan said.
“They can buy that winter jacket they may not have been able to afford before, she said.
An added benefit is that all students will have the same supplies.
“This levels the playing field,” Ms. Macan said. “We like the idea that all kids are equally prepared.”
She credited teachers at all grade levels with assembling the lists, allowing the district plenty of time to buy.
“And because we’re getting so much, we can buy in bulk and get prices you wouldn’t see, even during a sale,” Ms. Macan said.
Whether C-R can continue buying supplies in the future is questionable, given uncertain funding.
“We don’t know if we can sustain this, but our hope is that we can,” Ms. Macan said.