Teachers raise concerns on students showing up to school with 'no supplies'
By: Joel Lopez
Teachers from the School District of Palm Beach County are voicing their concerns to WPTV about the financial challenges that many families are facing at home and how students are impacted in the classroom.
WPTV's Joel Lopez is giving a voice to educators from Title 1 schools, highlighting the financial pressure they face in their efforts to stretch their own budgets to support their students who they say are arriving to class with little or no school supplies.
According to the School District of Palm Beach County's website the district has 135 Title 1 schools, meaning that the majority of students in these elementary, middle, and high schools come from low-income families.
"Normally for a Title 1 school, they come with no supplies at all," said Jessica Ruozzo, a third-grade dual language teacher at Liberty Park Elementary in Greenacres.
She explains that after just a week into the school year, her class has already used a significant amount of supplies.
"Normally, if they come in with no supplies, they're sitting there looking kind of nervous," she noted.
Ruozzo reveals that on average, she spends about $600 out of pocket to provide her classroom and students with essential materials.
"It's hard on not only the teacher but also the student because they feel like, 'Oh my goodness, how am I going to be able to do my work, I don't have anything, I have nothing in a backpack—an empty backpack,'" she adds.
According to the National Retail Federation, families of K-12 students are expected to spend an average of $858.07 on back-to-school items this year, a slight decrease from last year’s average of $874.68.
WPTV searched for solutions and attended the Education Foundation of Palm Beach County's bi-annual “Big Apple Supplies” event on Saturday.
It provided Ruozzo and 60 other teachers from Title 1 schools in Palm Beach County the opportunity for a free shopping supply spree.
"We have Crayola markers and Crayola pencils and binders, you name it," said Rita Shearon, the Development Manager of the Education Foundation of Palm Beach County, with a mission to help underprivileged students. "Their families don’t have to decide whether or not to provide a meal for their family or supplies for their kids."
Thanks to generous donations from Lang Realty, each teacher was able to select more than $500 worth of supplies for their classrooms.
"Hearing that students come with no supplies and that teachers who give so much of their time to our communities have to pay out of pocket? That’s heartbreaking," said Amy Snook, co-chair of the community outreach arm of Lang Realty. “To be able to make an impact for these students and for the teachers is incredible, incredible.”
The event was designed like a retail store, where each teacher received a shopping cart and a supply list of items they qualified to choose from.
"Note taking is the best thing that high school kid can learn, because when they go to college, they need to know to take notes. So these saved me a lot of money," said Dorthea Ward, a teacher at Santaluces High School, as she referenced her cart filled with composition books and notebooks.
Ward teaches AP Government and Economics at Santaluces High School and emphasized that the lack of supplies can severely limit a child's education.
"So, this school here helps me buy the supplies that can help my students do what they need to do so we can be that A school again," Ward said.
She is proud of her students she says have elevated their studies and academic determination, which she credits for Santaluces going from a C rated school in 2023, to an A rating in 2025.