Everything costs more these days and school supplies are no exception. “The prices just shot up. You really don’t get no deals nowhere.'
The price increase on consumer goods is directly tied to COVID-19, which shuttered factories, closed ports, eliminated jobs, and quarantined workers, said Alexis Roseman, who handles sales and operations at Bristol, Pa.-based Bay Sales LLC, which has been importing school supplies from China, Vietnam, Pakistan and India for more than 30 years. Months of delays and backlogs sent shipping costs soaring.
Lambert also suspects some of that increased spending comes from parents being more willing to purchase premium items – a backpack with a trademarked cartoon character, a lunch sack with a cold drink pocket – as they prepare for what they hope is a “normal,” fully in-person school year.“It’s a big deal: You’re going back to school,” Lambert said. “You want kids to be excited so yeah, you do get a new backpack because for the last few years you didn’t use a backpack.
This was the first time she’d ever taken advantage of such a giveaway, but what she saw while comparison shopping made it a good idea. “Online, I’m seeing ‘This is the first time I’ve ever gone to a backpack drive’ or ‘I blew my budget before I got through the entire list,’” said Boyce, executive director of Teach Plus Pennsylvania, a nonprofit that works with teachers to impact policy and practice. “The teachers we work with have been sharing Amazon wish lists or talk about Donors Choose. There’s no other profession where you have to fund-raise for your own supplies.
The District also provides principals with discretionary funds to use “for any materials and supplies that enhance content knowledge,” Orbanek wrote, and individual teachers receive $200 to outfit their classrooms. Colleen Chase, a mom and employee of Bay Sales, said she’s tried to educate friends about the dangers of waiting too late in the summer to shop, sharing her “inside knowledge” of port congestion and supply chain issues. She doesn’t know if they’re listening.
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