I just thought of something.

EVERY year the schools send out lists of school supplies, from the basic (notebooks, pencils, crayons) to classroom supplies (paper towels, hand sanitizer, paper for printouts).

Wouldn't it make more sense for them to price it all out and send out a request for just the cash? Then they could buy everything in bulk and save money, plus parents wouldn't have to run around getting everything together. They could divide it into two parts and say "You HAVE to purchase your notebooks/folders/pencils for this much money, and we'd also like up to THAT much money for other miscellaneous supplies" and be done with it.

I'd imagine most people would be thrilled to have all this back to school stuff dealt with with a single check or small amount of cash.