While many parents of school-aged children in the region have finished back-to-school shopping, others are holding off, either out of uncertainty about what the school year will look like, or because of financial strain. Families are raiding last years’ supplies to make sure they have what they need and are beginning the search for hard-to-find items, such as disinfectant wipes and hand sanitizer.
“We're a little more organized, so it helps that I'm going to go through their boxes of stuff that they currently have before we go looking for extras from their list,” said Grand Forks resident Sara Eck, who has three children in elementary school.
The search for some of those “extras,” hand sanitizer in particular, is more complicated in Eck’s case --one of her children has a reaction to using it. She is searching for a suitable item to substitute in its place.
Sarah Dobrovolny also has three children in school, a fourth-grader at Viking Elementary and a sixth- and seventh-grader at Schroeder Middle School. Dobrovolny said she has not started school shopping yet, but will buy supplies for both in-class and at-home lessons. She told the Herald she will go shopping for in-school items when she is more confident lessons will actually be held there.
“The wipes and the hand sanitizer and stuff, I don't know that that's going to be easy to find,” Dobrovolny said.
Others in the region are feeling the financial strain of having lost a job. Stephanie Steenerson told the Herald she isn’t sure how she will pay for school supplies and clothes, after Allied Building Products, her former employer, closed its Grand Forks location at the end of June. She has since found part-time employment and her husband has a full-time job, but bills have been mounting.
“First we have to get caught up on bills and stuff, because we've been running behind,” Steenerson said. “Then save up little by little.”
Steenerson told the Herald she may try to take advantage of giveaways of supplies, such as the Salvation Army’s Back 2 School campaign. The program gives backpacks and other supplies to those who sign up for them at its location at 3401 S. 31st St. Registration for the program runs through July 17. So far, according to Lindy Sund, a social worker there, only 97 children have been signed up -- down from the 465 children the organization assisted last year.
Sund attributes the low numbers to people worried about COVID-19 and being unsure of how the school year will look.
“It’s never been this small before,” Sund told the Herald.
Some parents, responding to a Herald request for comment on social media, said they would buy the same supplies as usual and, in fact, are already finished shopping. Others expressed hesitation about what to buy, as they are not yet sure if their kids will be in-school or at home for their lessons, and others still don’t want their kids to go to school at all, over concerns about coronavirus.
The parents’ answers mirror what parents across the nation are saying about back-to-school shopping. Deloitte, a consulting and financial advisory service has been conducting back-to- school shopping polls for more than a decade. This year’s poll shows 66% of the 1,200 people surveyed are anxious about sending their children back to school in the pandemic.
The poll also shows parents will be spending more this year, mostly due to needing extra technology if kids wind up staying home. Deloitte estimates parents will spend $28.1 billion on school shopping this year, up from $27.8 billion last year. Spending on traditional school items -- pens, notebooks and folders -- is expected to fall to $5 billion from last year’s estimated $6.1 billion. Clothing expenditures should also fall to $12.5 billion, from $15 billion the previous year. Deloitte polls 1,200 families and adjusts its data based on U.S. population surveys.
A 2020 poll, conducted by Deloitte, a consulting and financial advisory service, shows parents will be spending more this year, mostly due to needing extra technology and hygiene products.
"wait" - Google News
July 15, 2020 at 06:00PM
https://ift.tt/38WKcY1
Some Grand Forks parents wait to buy school supplies - Grand Forks Herald
"wait" - Google News
https://ift.tt/35qAU4J
https://ift.tt/2Ssyayj
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Some Grand Forks parents wait to buy school supplies - Grand Forks Herald"
Post a Comment