Generous donations allow Waldport elementary families to avoid sticker shock of buying school supplies

 

By CHERYL ROMANO/YachatsNews

WALDPORT — A young mother visited Crestview Heights School recently to see what supplies her child would need to start kindergarten. What she learned made her cry.

She had been saving money all summer from her work cleaning houses, anticipating a big budget hit for notebooks, pencils, markers and whatever else the school would require. When she was told that the school would simply give her every item needed for free — except a backpack and water bottle — she choked up with relief and gratitude.

Thanks to a $6,000 donation from the Yachats Lions Club, Crestview Heights can show this kind of generosity to all 275 students in its kindergarten through sixth grade classes. They’ll start the new school year next week with “the tools they need to succeed,” says Principal Sandi Battles.

Battles, a Waldport resident, is in her second year as Crestview principal, and this is the second year of the Yachats Lions-funded program.

“Before, we had some kids coming in with nothing, or just a few things,” she said. “Other kids notice right away who has what, who’s carrying brand names and who isn’t. There’s a stigma.”

While every school in the Lincoln County School District gives away some level of supplies or charges a nominal fee, according to Battles, Crestview is the only one able to give away the complete school supply list, tailored for each grade from kindergarten through sixth.

Starting school with a full roster of supplies “Removes barriers for all of our students, so they don’t feel like they’re already behind,” says Battles, who has 19 years’ experience as a teacher and administrator. “Teachers have traditionally paid out of their own pockets to ‘backfill’ school supplies, so ours don’t have to do that anymore.”

The idea of approaching a local organization to fund supplies came from Battles’ sister in Hawaii. “She’s in corporate real estate, including shopping malls, in Kauai. She would conduct drives for school supplies in the malls, so I decided to do something similar here.”

For its part, the Yachats Lions Club sees its continuing donations as part of its mandate as a service organization.

“Helping young people is a major focus of Lions International,” says Yachats Lions president David Okelley. “It’s part of our service pledge. We’ve always supported the elementary, middle and high schools in Waldport.”

The Lions’ gift came largely from proceeds of the Lions Thrift Store in Yachats, plus its pancake breakfasts and donations made by groups that use the Lions Hall, which Okelley says has seen a “big increase in use” in the post-pandemic era. While the hall is technically free for gatherings like parties and reunions, the club does ask for a donation to help support its community services — like funding school supplies.

“A lot of the financial burden of buying supplies has been placed on families” due to cuts in state funding, Okelley says. “We’re sensitive to that.”

That financial burden is no small thing, as the tears of a kindergartener’s mother attest. A significant portion of Lincoln County’s youth are living below the poverty level, according to the U.S. Census. While the overall percentage of impoverished county residents is 14.7 percent, just over 20 percent of those under age 18 are in that bracket.

Homelessness is part of the financial picture for young people, too, and the county school district has a program to help. Its Homeless Education and Literacy Project serves students and families who are unhoused, or suffering housing insecurity, with school supplies, meal programs, clothing and shoes.

It costs how much?

Even though Battles and her team shop bargains for the products they provide, taking advantage of bulk discounts and sales, the cost of just one child’s supplies for one year can be a struggle for many — and a bit of a shock for people whose school years are far behind.

To get an idea of actual costs, YachatsNews obtained a list of recommended supplies for a Lincoln County School District third grader. The list includes items like notebooks, ballpoint pens, plastic folders, a three-ring binder, glue sticks, headphones, a backpack and water bottle, along with other goods. The list covers school supplies only — not shoes and other clothing.

In all there are 26 recommended items. YachatsNews sourced the supplies online from Walmart’s website, choosing mostly lower-priced products. These are the totals costs it found:

• $95.34 for the full list, including products not available for pickup at the Newport store, incurring vendor shipping costs of $23.85. Without shipping costs, if everything was available for pickup, the total would have been $71.49.
• $50.33 to get the store pick-up items only, which comprised 18 of the 26 items on the supply list.

Crestview parents are “really grateful” for the free supplies, says Battles, and the school’s staff is just as grateful for the support from the Lions Club and other organizations such as First Interstate Bank.

“It impacts every student who goes to school here,” the principal said.

• Cheryl Romano is a Yachats freelance reporter who contributes regularly to YachatsNews.com. She can be reached at Wordsell@gmail.com