This is the season when public schools tell families just what supplies they hope kids will show up with when classes begin in September. While the first-day list may not be a new phenomenon, the scope of the list surely has grown over the years.

There are good reasons for that, but expensive lists can be a strain on some families’ finances or teachers’ pocketbooks. The problem can be eased if those who can, opt to give a bit more. People with no direct ties to schools may give as well, adding their donations to a general pot or specifying school or teacher they wish to help.

Another solution that is already in use at some schools takes the shopping burden off parents, and it, too, would benefit from outside donations. It has advantages the traditional supply list does not.

The problem has its roots in school districts’ financial problems. Shifting the burden to parents didn’t solve them, but it did help. And, it relieved teachers from being in the unenviable position of having to use their own money for supplies. There aren’t many other industries that expect employees to pick up the tab if they can no longer provide all that’s necessary to get a job done.

There also appears to be a sort of “supplies inflation” going on. It’s difficult to imagine, for example, how a first-grader could work her way through two dozen glue sticks and a full two or three boxes of crayons in a single year, for example. It may be the requirement for so many of such basics is one way teachers are able to ensure that all students have the supplies they need, even if they cannot afford them.

Teachers at the Bend-La Pine district’s Silver Rail and at least four other elementary schools have taken a different approach. They’re asking families to skip the annual shopping trip for school supplies and send their kids in with a check. Then teachers will shop for their classrooms, buying in bulk from school district suppliers and saving money in the process. Either way, teachers and the district note that no child will go without, no matter how much a family can pay, if anything.

And when a teacher does the buying, kids generally get supplies for less than might otherwise be the case.