No Soap in the bathrooms at Westview Elem.

My youngest goes to West View and we received a permission form about a month or two ago to allow him to use hand sanitizer in the classroom. I signed it "yes, please" because of all the stuff going around. I keep some in the car but we just use in a pinch so I'm not too worried about over using it.

Oh, my neighbor's son goes there too and he did not receive a form. Not sure if he lost it or if the teacher didn't get a chance to send it as they are in the same grade.

 

I just asked my 4th grader and she said that sometimes there isn't any soap or paper towel. This week there is soap but no paper towels in the bathroom and that her classroom hasn't had any paper towels for a month!

I didn't realize... I don't use the bathrooms when I visit the school and the kids never complain. It never occurred to me that I need to ask about supplies at school. ?

 

I have 5 kids that go to Westview and they all said the paper towels and soap in the girls' and boys' bathrooms are fine. Of course, that is this week. I know they are short and blame it on funding. However, when I went to NCPS, we never seemed to run out. We also didn't ahve an unghastly amount of stuff asked for at the beginning, middle and end of school. Every week my kids come home w/ teachers requesting more stuff. Why? I really don't see how 30 pairs of scissors in all these classes get entirely destroyed each year? Don't get it. We never grew up w/ hand sanitizer and did just fine. Seems to me kids seem to be getting more sick nowadays than they used to. I think the schools need to seriously think about things. I spent well over $800 on school lists at the beginning of this year. (for 6 kids). And I didn't even get everything on the lists! That's uncalled for. I went to school and had to have a notebook, paper and pencil. There was never a request for hand sanitizer, papertowels, glue sticks, tissues, etc. Anyone else have issue w/ this? Just curious.

Parent w/ valid concerns of education for my kids

 

6 kids! Bless your heart! I won't complain about all that I had to get for my one!8) But yes, I think the amount of stuff the parents are asked to suppy is a little nuts. I don't mind doing my fair share, but I think some of us are making up for what other's don't!

 

yes, some of us do cover more then our fair share for those who don't. I know our school hikes up the costs of field trips to pay for those whose parents don't send the money.

 

Walloon, you are correct about others compensating for the field trips. I have 7 kids and 6 are in school so yes, it gets pricey on field trips. I remember one of the field trips if I had taken my son to the place myself, it would have been cheaper! And the schools get group rates. Go figure. I don't mind doing my fair share at all but after having many teachers tell me that we make lists and such up to compensate for those not bringing it in, it made me mad. So, I now send stuff in w/ my kids' names in permanent black marker all over it. I know other parents who do the same thing. One principal asked me last year since we have so many kids in school what parents thoguth about the lists. I told her the truth about what most all of us think. I said if you could condense the lists so that everyone could easily afford it, then we wouldn't hvae people not bringing stuff in. She agreed but she left the school for another job in education. Don't know what came of that conversation as we moved to yet another school. I do know this year I can't afford everything on the list. One teacher asked for 8 gluesticks from every student. There were a minimum of 20 students. 160 gluesticks! The requests I get throughout the year from teachers is gluesticks, tissues, papertowels, pencils, crayons for extra supplies. Then, there are teacher wish lists. I give what I can. The school my kids go to this year raised over $16K for one event for PTA money. Still not exactly sure where it all went to. Why can't some go to supplies? They had a segment on 20/20 not too long ago about the wastefulness of public schools and where all the money goes. It was indeed eye opening and made you think twice. They followed some private schools and also some public schools that received very little funding. The schools that recieved little funding were able to think of ways to save money b/c they HAD to. That included kids helping to clean up the schools so that they didn't ahve to hire ajanitorial staff. Kids helping to plant flowers and water flowers around the schools as to not have so much time w/ the grounds keepers. In other words, w/ 600 or so students, all pitched in to make their school work and save money. These kids also had some of the best test scores in the state! And this is w/ little funidng. They weren't complaining, they found solutions. I find here they always tend to complain they are short on funds. I was told this year there's no money for papertowels in the bathrooms. What?! Since when? In my opinion(keep in mind, it's only worth 2 cents--LOL), they should hire a financial consultant/businessman to get the schools back into financial shape.

Maybe next year, we can all have a shorter supply list. Really, what would they do if we as parents ALL brought just the necessities for class. --paper, pencil, notebook. They couldn't say were not going to teach your kids. Anyone on here have suggestions on curtailing these outrageous lists every year? Just curious.

Have a great weekend.

 

I was a 2nd grade teacher in Johnston County a few years ago. The field trip money for the field trips I attended were not inflated. The trip had to include money for the bus (driver and gas) as well as any expenses such as entrance fees and special events. We figured it out to the penny. The only other fee added was ocassionally to cover a teacher's entrance fee if that was extra. Usually teachers are free and if not, we often paid it ourselves.

I know that the lists can add up. But if you don't get the items on the list, one
of 2 things will happen: 1) the teacher won't do as many of the fun activities that help students learn and retain info, that involve guue sticks, crayons, scissors, etc. You child also won't have access to a tissue when needed, increasing germs and how often you child is sick. OR 2) your child's teacher will pay, out of their own measly paycheck, to cover what you did not provide. The amount of money I spent each year just to cover those type of supplies was staggering. But, if I didn't, I couldn't teach in the best way I knew, and the children's lessons weren't the best I could do-not extravagant, but what was needed to help them really learn. The more I had to pay to cover glue sticks and scissors, the less I could spend on supplies to do science experiments, for example. And ANY money I spent on supplies meant I had less money to cover my morgage payments or a trip to the doctor or something MY child needs.
Yes the school give each teacher some $ to spend, but it's not much. Look around the classroom-all those decorations and charts-the school doesn't provide those. Go to Stone's Educational Store the week before school starts and you will see all the teachers spending their own money on things for your child and your child's classroom. some of the stuff will last a few years, but the first few years are especially tough on teachers. I don't know of any other job that expects you to spend your own money on supplies needed to do your job. that is just one of many reason I'm not in a public school classroom anymore. One year I was told I had to limit my classroom supply list. That translated to mean that I would have to spend more of my own money to cover the rest. Yes, I know that it can feel like you are nickled and dimed, but please don't blame the teachers. They're nickled and dimed as well. God bless the parents who provide extra supplies. If they could just see the eyes of the kids that helped, they would probably have given even more. God bless the parents that helped me with their time as well. I had one parent who came in every week and helped me with an innovative program I was running. Another parent who worked full-time helped by coloring and cutting game peices for educational games. Without her, I might have had to rely more on boring worksheets. Those parents are one of the many reason I taught as long as I did (It was definitely not the salary or the benefits). not only did those parents help me teach better, but their children saw how much their parents valued their education.

 

reeteach2, I'm NOT blaming the teachers by any means. And yes, many times I had volunteered at the schools to help out the teahers whenever I could. It is the way the public schools are run adn you must agree to some extent as you left the public shcool sector yourself. I do see what the teachers buy but do you really think parents should spend hundreds each year for the "free and appropriate education" mandated by the state? I don't mind chipping in, don't get me wrong. But every other week we are doing fundraisers and being asked for stuff all the time. I'd rather pay a set fee at the beginning of the year rather than do all the door to door stuff and being asked all the time. I have newsletters from classrooms each week adn every single week, they are asking for stuff. EVery single week. I think the problem lies w/ some parents not helping out at all w/ supplies. I try but I honestly can't afford to give 6 different teachers, plus all the other teachers they have, items on a weekly basis. If each parent in the class would give a little, that would help. I do NOT blame the teachers on the lack of funding. I just get tired of hearing about shortages on literally a weekly basis in their class newsletters. I do thank the teachers for the job they do. My kids have had many teachers over the years. Some I will never forget and admire. Some, should not have taught to begin with. There is good and bad in every profession. But the teachers in the public schools do the best w/ what they have and I thank them for that. I don't mind helping but we need to get a little more realistic about what we ask for. We didn't have hand sanitizer when we were growing up. Why do we need it now? Just the little things that could be worked on I think. And apparently, the admin thinks it's a problem b/c they've asked me in the past how I would change some things about the lists. As always, theese are MY opinions and MY experiences w/ MY kids. Yours may vary.

 

Can I ask why they take pictures two and three times a year? We had one set taken at the first of the year when we were growing up, now it's at least twice a year if not more, I think there were "holiday" ones taken this year in addition to the fall & spring ones.............

Then you have the PTA fund raisers, field trips, classroom wish lists in addition to what you send in for your own kid, treasure box items, year books in elementary school that are $27 :roll: ! Class room t-shirts, school spirit t-shirts, we just had to buy one for the 2nd grade play, some Heart Association fundraiser, book orders..............it just never ends. I'm with Abdulina, I wish they would just tell me how much I need to contribute at the beginning of the year and let me hand over my check book! Let me be clear, I am NOT blaming the teachers, but I do not know how people with more than one or two kids affords it!

 

The district that I taught in had a statement on those lists that indicated that the supplies on the list were not required, but those that were able and willing could pick up to help the class. I generally only asked for notebooks for kids to put their work in. Scissors, glue bottles, etc, were provided by the school, granted the kids hated using the "school scissors." I kept my list to well under $10 a kid.

Due to the NCLB, we didn't do any art projects (in the regular classroom), decorating the room (outside of what the kids brought in), or have holiday parties. If the activity didn't meet a state education standard, we couldn't do it. This cut down on alot of class list expenses for the parents and really cut down on the "fluff" such as the holiday quilting projects I never got into anyhow. The parents had a hard time with it initially, but since we didn't do a lot of worksheets and did project-based activities instead, the kids were happy, so parents backed off.

As reteach say, field trips include the admission and the bus fare. Some schools can allocate funds to pay for some of the fare and many allocate money to cover students that are not able. Depending upon the source of the funds, you couldn't move it at all, such as textbook money can only be spent on certain things.
Some of it just budgeting, the pot of money is only so big. You take money out of the field trip funds to pay for new books for the library, you are stuck with either asking parents for money for the field trip or school supplies, or you do without. Neither is a good option.

Throwing money at the situation isn't always the best solution. The custodian at our old school indicated that they recieved a weekly amount of soap and paper towels (based on the number of students with some extra factored in). So when the paper towels ran out on Wed., we'd ask what happened. He'd walk me into the boys bathroom where kids have used what looked like an entire stack of paper towels in one trip. Hundreds of paper towels just wasted. Now, that's not a budget issue, it is a monitoring issue, but some teachers are uncomfortable monitoring students in the bathroom (I was a fifth grade male teacher, I would only go into the girls' bathroom if it was on fire). With new schools, they finally got smart and put the sinks and paper towels in a common area away from the toilets where the teacher could monitor. The paper towels and soap were never an issue.

 

After reading this thread, I asked my daughter about the situation. She told me that there is always soap, but sometimes no towels. I was volunteering at the West View just the other day. I purposely checked 4 different bathrooms for soap and paper towels. Each one had both. I inquired about the problem while at the school. What I was told makes sense. We receive more towels than should be necessary for all our students on a monthly basis. Actually, from what I was told, we have a higher allotment than several other schools with fewer students. Anyway, waste is the issue. The students goof off or whatever, and just continue to pull out a ton of towels! Most students use them wisely, but the few that don't, well...you see what happens. I know that West View now has a monitoring system in place. One to two towels per student per bathroom visit. The students will monitor each other, as a teacher cannot be in two places (boys and girls bathrooms) at the same time. There are also sinks in most (if not all) classrooms. I for one know that my daughter's teacher is diligent with the hand washing. There is always soap and towels in her classroom, as she can monitor the children herself.

 

Funny JocoMom - since reading this thread I also decided to peak into a few of the bathrooms the last couple of times I've visited the school. Like you, I found that in each case there were both paper towels and soap available in each. Were we in the same meeting at the school where paper towel usage was discussed? Sounds like you heard the same information I did concerning the amount of paper towels ordered for our school versus other schools in our area - and the amount of paper towels our students are using/wasting.

 

Nope, not at the meeting, but I spoke to several people who were!