The rising cost of school supplies is making them inaccessible to about a third of families, according to a new survey by LendingTree, affecting Central Florida parents and teachers.
The average parent said they are at risk of going into about $800 dollars in debt just during school shopping season alone.
Rollins education professor Angela Griner said, as a result, many teachers are having to outfit their own classrooms, putting an even greater burden on them.
“I remember that it used to be, 10 to 15 years ago, I on average might spend $300 to $500 out of pocket as a teacher in the classroom. And now that cost is exponentially greater,” Griner said.
She said many teachers are creating Amazon wish lists or turning to Facebook Marketplace for gently used items.
“They've been talking about how difficult it is for them, many of them are parents as well. So they're struggling not only to buy supplies, as teachers, for their own students, but then they're struggling to buy supplies for their own children. And so they're aware of the weight,” Griner said.
For parents, organizations across Central Florida are holding free school supply giveaways.
LendingTree Chief Credit Analyst Matt Schulz said the problem with school supplies is it’s not an optional expense for teachers or families.
“While there are absolutely things that you can do to save money on school supplies, it's not one of those things that you can just cancel like a Netflix subscription so it puts a lot of people in a difficult spot,” Schulz said.
Schulz recommended people make a budget, and figure out what they absolutely need versus what they want ahead of the school year, to make things more manageable.
“And if you do have [a budget] that you use from last year, you may want to revise that budget upwards a little bit and add maybe 5 or 10% to what you spent last year," Schulz said, "because the costs are going to be higher.”
He also said people should comparison-shop for the cheapest prices on supplies.
For teachers looking for free supplies in Central Florida, check out A Gift for Teaching, a local nonprofit that allows public school teachers to “shop” for free supplies for their classroom by appointment.
During the school year, shopping hours are:
- Tuesday – Thursday: 2 p.m. – 6 p.m.
- Select Saturdays: 8:30 a.m. – 12 p.m.
In September, A Gift for Teaching's mobile store will visit eligible teachers at the following schools:
- September 4: Evans High School
- September 11: Colonial High School
- September 18: Apopka High School
- September 25: East River High School
For parents looking for free supplies in Central Florida here are supply drive events listed by county:
Brevard County:
- Aug. 3, 9:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m., Titus Landing
- Aug. 3, 9 a.m. - 1 p.m., River Lanes Family Entertainment Center
- Aug. 3, 11 a.m. -1 p.m., Main Pavilion at Titusville Sand Point Park
- Aug. 3, 10 a.m. - 12 p.m., Space Coast Field of Dreams
- Aug. 4, 11 a.m. - 4 p.m., Space Coast Harley-Davidson
- Aug. 10, 10 a.m. - 3 p.m., Brevard Zoo
- Aug. 10, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m., Melbourne Square
- Aug. 10, 4 p.m., Salty Sisters Bar & Grill
- Aug. 10, 2 p.m. - 6 p.m., City of Palm Bay Boost Mobile
- Aug. 10, 11 a.m. - 2 p.m., Eddie Lee Taylor Sr. Community Center
Flagler County:
- Aug. 3, 11 a.m. - 2 p.m., CMBC Family Life Center
- Aug. 3, 10 a.m. - 1 p.m., Flagler Palm Coast High School
- Aug. 7, 6 p.m., The European Village
- Aug. 20, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m., St. Augustine Aquarium
Lake County:
- July 30, 6:45 p.m. - 9 p.m., Clermont Arts and Recreation Center
- Aug. 3, 10 a.m. - 1 p.m., Florida Blue Center Clermont
Orange County:
- Aug. 3, 11 a.m., Christ is the Victory Church
- Aug. 3, 11 a.m. - 4 p.m., Zanders Park & Bouler Pool
- Aug. 3, 9 a.m. - 11 a.m., Orange County Sheriff’s Office
- Aug. 3, 10 a.m. - 1 p.m., Florida Blue Center Winter Park
- Aug. 3, 10 a.m. - 1 p.m., Faith Assembly Curry Ford Campus
- Aug. 3, 10 a.m. - 1 p.m., Faith Assembly Michigan Street Campus
- Aug. 3, 10 a.m. - 12 p.m., Action Church Winter Park Campus
- Aug. 3 12 p.m. - 3 p.m., Colonial High School Jennings Kite Stadium.
- Aug. 3, 11 a.m. - 2 p.m., LIV Realty
Osceola County:
- July 31, 10 a.m. - 12 p.m., Events Center @ Osceola Trail
Seminole County:
- Aug. 3, 10 a.m. - 1 p.m., Faith Assembly Red Bug Lake Campus
- Aug. 3, 10 a.m. - 12 p.m., Action Church Sanford Campus
- Aug. 3, TBD, First Church of Oviedo
- Aug. 4, 9 a.m. - 2 p.m., Longwood Community Building
- Aug. 10, 11 a.m. - 4 p.m., Altamonte Mall
Polk County
- Aug. 3, 10 a.m. - 1 p.m., Florida Blue Center Winter Haven
- Aug. 3, 9 a.m. - 12 p.m., Visit Central Florida Welcome Center in Davenport
Volusia County
- Aug. 3, 10 a.m. - 12 p.m., Florida Technical College DeLand
- Aug. 3, 3 p.m. - 7 p.m., Cricket Wireless Authorized Retailer
- Aug. 3, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m., Southeast Volusia Family YMCA
- Aug. 3, 11 a.m. - 2 p.m., The Rec Center
- Aug. 4, 8 a.m. - 11 a.m., The Center Deltona
