BUFFALO, N.Y. — It's that time of year, back-to-school shopping is upon us.
The COVID pandemic put a pause on the traditional back-to-school rush for a couple years. But this year, with a majority of students in districts across the country starting the new school year in their classrooms, the need for supplies is back.
The National Retail Federation estimates "families with children in elementary through high school plan to spend an average of $864 on school items, approximately $15 more than last year."
Professor Fred Floss teaches economics at Buffalo State College. He said while $15 is not the highest spike we've seen given the rate of inflation, it is significant enough to cause hardships for some families.
"When we've been talking about inflation with food and gas prices, and everything else, the number probably seems a little low," Floss said. "But it's still a lot of money, particularly for a family who is a lower income family and may have more than one or two kids, so it's going to be very, very expensive."
Research shows shopped have been getting their back-to-school lists completed earlier than usual to take advantage of deals and stretch their budgets.
But still, it's likely the financial burden will be felt by most families.
That is why some schools, such as Enterprise Charter School in Buffalo, are stepping up and getting creative.
In an effort to help with school shopping, Enterprise is using "Donors Choose," a trusted classroom funding site to raise money to purchase school supplies for all 405 students, grades K -12.
Erin Catalano is school's Director of Operations and said, "We're aiming to raise $10,000. We've got pencils on there, crayons, colored pencils, markers, we've got ear buds, you know, journals for them to express their creativity for writing and even math manipulatives."
The point is to make sure students are exciting about learning again.
"As a mom, myself, I know how expensive it can be to buy school supplies. So what is family do when family needs help, we help," Catalano says. "We were fortunate enough, last week Bill Gates matched all the donations up to half for what people were donating. So if you donated $20, he matched $10, so that really gave us a little bit of a boost."
The goal is to get the rest of funds needed by the first day of school, Sept. 6.