HOUSTON – Parents are still totaling the cost of school supplies and uniforms. And for some, it’s a struggle to make everything add up.
How’s this for a math problem: divide four kids, their mom and grandmother among three bedrooms. Now factor in the broken air conditioning.
Lashawnda Sims can’t seem to solve it.
The single mother feels like “almost, I would say, the old woman in the shoe,” she says. “Except I’m not that old. And I don’t have that many children.”
After losing her job, Sims had to move back in with her mom. Now, while looking for work, she must outfit her brood for the classroom.
Back to school time costs the average family about $424, according to the National Retail Federation.
That includes $225 for clothing, $103 for shoes and $96 for school supplies.
One of Sims’ daughters, Germani Smith, has most of what she needs for Ms. Scott’s second grade class.
“I have pencils, a folder, some scissors and crayons and some glue,” says the 7-year old girl. “And all I need is 2 tablets.”
But her school, Shadydale Elementary, is in North Forest ISD.
And out of the district’s 7665 children, the state of Texas counts just five that are not economically disadvantaged.
That’s not five-percent. That’s five students.
Even Lashawnda Sims was shocked by that statistic.
“You think that your children are suffering,” she says. “Just think about all the other children and other parents that are having an even harder time than you are.”
FOX 26 co-sponsored this year’s Operation School Supplies, helping 300 campuses in 31 school districts.
But Sims can tell you, the demand far outstrips the supplies.
“My second grader’s list,” she says, pointing to one piece of paper. “And I still have all of my fourth grader’s list. But you do what you can.”
That’s especially true in North Forest, whose spokesperson tells FOX 26 News that unemployment in that community is over forty-percent.
- Comment on This Story
Similar Posts:
- Back-to-School assistance
- Free nursery places for 140,000
- Ortiz Elementary back to normal after missing kid found
- Teacher still on the mobile music bus after three decades
- California teachers begin push for ballot measure to raise taxes on wealthiest 1 percent
Post Comment