Rising School Supply Costs Spark Community Support

Back-to-school can be an exciting time but it can also take a toll on your wallets, which is why some educators across the state are going the extra mile to make sure students have a strong start to the school year.

Back-to-school lists are packed with the essentials, but parents and teachers said they can use all the help they can get.

"When I first started teaching my husband was kind of like how much are we gonna spend this year," said Sheila Sanders with Chickasha High School. 

Parents across the country and in Oklahoma ask themselves the same question.

A national survey of 1,000 people from www.offers.com found back-to-school spending is down slightly from last year. But still that same survey found 33 percent of parents plan to spend more than $200 on their kids' supplies.

"The need is great we know probably over 60 percent of our students don't come to school with the supplies they need so having community partners step up through donations is important to us," said Alta Price, Foundation for OKCPS.

More than half of those surveyed plan on heading to department or mass merchant stores 

"If the parents can't supply it then it kind of falls on me to supply it," said Amber Kennedy, Lincoln Elementary. 

There are still options across the state for those in need, through school districts and corporate partnerships.

We'll see those partnerships at work later this week.