‘Prices just shot up,’ say Philly parents struggling to afford school supplies

The school supplies giveaway at Izlas Latin Cuisine in West Kensington began at 3 p.m. on Wednesday. Less than 30 minutes later, one woman estimated she’d already given backpacks — stuffed with crayons, pencils, folders and notebooks — to 50 people.

“A lot of people are, like, ‘Wow. This is a blessing. This is a miracle,’” said Crystal Ramos, an admissions advocate at Fox Chase Home Care, which cosponsored the event. “It’s hard. I know. I’m a single parent. We need to figure something out so these little futures of ours can go to school and get the right education.”

Everything costs more these days and school supplies are no exception.

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.

In mid-August, DataWeave, an e-commerce analytical analysis company, reported an average 25% price increase for such supplies as glue sticks, lunch boxes, folders and backpacks. The average price of notebooks jumped 32%.

Ramos noticed that jump. “Composition books at Walmart, I used to pay 2 for a dollar, sometimes even 3 for a dollar,” she said. “Now we’re talking a dollar and some change for one book.”

The National Retail Federation’s 2022 back-to-school spending survey found that one-third of consumers — 38% — are prepared to cut back in other areas, such as driving or dining out less or postponing trips, to ensure their children are school-ready. Families with children in grades K through 12 said they expected to spend an average of $864 on school items, about $15 more than last year and almost $170 more than 2019. (In addition to traditional school supplies, NRF’s survey included clothing, electronics and some furniture items in its calculations.)

Sheri Lambert, an associate professor at Temple University’s Fox School of Business, wasn’t surprised by that figure, noting that “even despite high inflation and looming recession, we’re going to see spending happen when it comes to our children. We’ll forgo other items in the household, but not when it comes to children.”

Lambert also suspects that 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.

» READ MORE: Back to school: Free supplies, drives, and backpack giveaways in Philly

“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.”

Families that came to Izlas for its giveaway said they expected to spend closer to $100 to $200 a child on supplies, more than last year and a staggering sum for those on tight budgets.

“I already spent $120 off the cuff on her,” said Emma Pichardo, referring to her niece, Ebony, 12. Pichardo, of West Oak Lane, was also picking up a bag for her grandson Joshua, 5.

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.

“The prices just shot up,” she said. “You really don’t get no deals nowhere: Walmart, Target, Forman Mills, Dollar Tree, Family Dollar.”

About 300,000 children in the Philadelphia region live in poverty, according to Michal Smith, executive director of the Philadelphia office of Cradles to Crayons, a nonprofit that seeks to provide those children with essentials. This year, her organization is giving away 50,000 supply-filled backpacks through its partner social service agencies.

“They’re saying they need more this year than they’ve ever needed before,” Smith said.

Laura Boyce, who was a teacher and administrator in Philadelphia and New Jersey schools for 10 years, has seen how the high cost of school supplies impacts teachers as well as parents.

“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.”

Marissa Orbanek, a spokesperson for the School District of Philadelphia, wrote in an email that although “we haven’t heard any concerns directly, we know inflation is impacting the cost of supplies nationwide and the District is doing what it can to try and alleviate that concern for families.”

That included giving away free backpacks and supplies as part of the 2nd Annual Back to School Celebration & Bus Tour, which hosted 10 events this month, four of which included the opportunity for free immunizations.

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.

Susan Love, a second-grade teacher at John M. Patterson School, said the average teacher “probably spends five times that much. I know teachers who spend thousands.”

Although she has seen some higher prices — for example, she noticed that what used to be 10-cent folders now cost 35 cents — Love said she’s been more challenged by empty store shelves. On one shopping trip, she came up empty at multiple big-box stores before scooping up 30 notebooks at a dollar store.

“That helped one teacher. Me. The teacher coming in behind me? I left her two,” Love said. “My best advice is to hit the stores early in the morning.”

Colleen Chase, a mother 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 whether they’re listening.

“Most people don’t want to start shopping for school supplies two weeks after school lets out,” she said. “But, unfortunately, that is what they need to do.”

Of course, hindsight is 20-20. Perhaps next year, families will follow the example set by mother of three Roum Lay. The Wyncote resident said she hasn’t noticed any cost increases because Lay buys supplies in bulk during the year, taking advantage of sales because “retail prices are not my thing. I’m a couponer,” she said. She currently has a stockpile, which means her children will have the basics when school starts.

“I’m not a crazy back-to-school parent,” said Lay, mother of a 14-year-old boy and two girls ages 12 and 9. “It’s only when the teachers give them their lists, then I focus on making sure they have what the teachers want, but the basics we have in our house.”

The Philadelphia Inquirer is one of more than 20 news organizations producing Broke in Philly, a collaborative reporting project on solutions to poverty and the city’s push toward economic justice. See all of our reporting at brokeinphilly.org.