SCHOOL FOR THOUGHT

You’ll wonder where the money went

(Guest blog by Nancy Wagner)

After 12 days of school my grandson has come home with the following requests for money:

• An agenda $7.00 - optional, but he had already written in it.
• Money for pizza day. We sent in $60 for him and his brother. Good for 2 months.
• Book order forms for recreational reading.
• Money for sub sandwich lunches. We opted for every other week. Cost per child $31.50 for 9 lunches.
• School “meet the teacher” night is this week. It is combined with a fun fair fund-raiser. Minimum cost if you take 2 kids and don’t eat anything yourself is $20.00.
• Terry Fox Walk Day is this month. Children are asked to bring their toonies.
• Finally, class and individual pictures will be taken next week.

These are optional costs, but many parents feel pressure to give/buy. I know this has to be a difficult situation for families where money is tight. In my opinion, this has really gotten out of hand. The really sad part of all this is that parents/ grandparents like me avoid complaining about these money grabs because we don’t want any blow-back on our kids.