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Buying tax-free school supplies is taxing

For many parents braving the aisles with long lists from their children's schools, the tax-free holiday offers the kind of shop- ping that affords little pleasure.

By TOM MARSHALL
Published July 29, 2006

SPRING HILL - It was a jungle off Aisle 1 at Wal-Mart, where for one desperate hour this week I joined a particularly endangered herd: the parent in search of school supplies.

Folks who might typically browse for a deal were foraging hard for pink eraser caps and notebooks and "Pencil pouch - 1 lg, zippered, canvas NO BOXES."

While the state's tax holiday might have gotten them into the store, there seemed to be little pleasure in the outing.

"It's getting worse," said Tiffany Jackson, shopping with her daughter Shardasha, a soon-to-be sixth-grader at West Hernando Middle School. "I can't remember buying this much stuff."

Jackson figured she'd spend "$25 or $30, at least," plus $50 more for a daughter in elementary school.

Down the aisle, Dora Cesiro and her son Christopher were getting ready for the new school year at Chocachatti Elementary School, where every student must purchase dance shoes for the magnet school's arts program.

"That's $12 right there," she figured.

Marcia Austin, principal at J.D. Floyd Elementary School, said classroom teachers develop the shopping lists for each grade in her building.

"And they do make a real, conscious effort to keep it at a minimum cost. We try to keep it at $20 to $30 dollars for a full year's costs," she said. "If you price it, you'll see that."

My daughter won't enter kindergarten for another year, but I wanted to see what I was in for.

So I took Austin's advice, grabbed the kindergarten list for J.D. Floyd from a nearby kiosk, and began my own price hunt. No buying this time for me - just a good trial run.

I looked for the low-hanging fruit first. My list specified a plastic pencil box, which was a bargain at 50 cents. This would be easy.

Three boxes of Crayola crayons followed at 20 cents a box, plus two dozen pencils at $1.77 a package, and a pair of rounded-tip Fiskars scissors at $1.73. Judging from the lists, just about every elementary student in the district - nearly 10,000 of them this fall - will be coming to school with these Finnish blades. They must be good.

My list demanded one pink eraser-bar, but I could find only packages with two for 97 cents. Then glue sticks, Elmer's glue, pocket folders without prongs, spiral notebook, three containers of Play-Doh.

I picked up four Expo dry-erase markers for the white boards. Did my mom buy chalk for the chalkboard when I went to kindergarten? I couldn't honestly remember. But at J.D. Floyd, more than 8,000 markers will be going to school on Aug. 10.

Then I hit a wall. Computer headphones? It seemed every student at J.D. Floyd needed a pair - hygiene, principal Austin said.

They weren't in the school supplies department, so I headed over to computers and grabbed the least expensive pair at $4.96. A book bag - nice and pink for a girl entering kindergarten - came in at $4.94, and the school wanted $3 more in cash for a school agenda book.

On to the grocery section for one package of "nutritional snacks," and a decision. I wasn't tempted by the back-to-school packages of Cheetos or Doritos - "The Right Snack for Sensible Munching" - and opted for a $2.23 box of blueberry Nutri-Grain bars.

Then a box of baby wipes, another of gallon-sized Ziploc bags, and paper towels. Mostly I chose the cheapest product I could find, but felt I could justify the extra 11 cents for a nice box of tissues.

The grand total for my list - without tax, thankfully - came to $42.98.

I headed for the door, slightly dizzy. Next year I'd be back for real with my daughter. I can't wait.

Tom Marshall can be reached at tmarshall@sptimes.com or (352) 848-1431.

[Last modified July 28, 2006, 22:49:56]