Back-to-school supplies expected to be higher. How much would some CPS families spend?
<p>Chicago Public Schools students will head back to class next week with backpacks full of new supplies, mostly requested by their school.</p><p>School supply lists can have families spending more than previous years, but with <a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/economy/2026/06/11/spiking-gas-prices-chicagoans-stop-rising-food-prices-inflation" >rising inflation</a> some parents could be spending even more than they expected.</p><p>A Deloitte survey of Chicago K-12 parents found they planned to spend $794 per child on back-to-school items this year, up 7% year over year.</p><p>And rising costs could contribute to the figure. A report last month from Groundwork Collaborative and The Century Foundation found the price of typical school supplies increased by 7.7% over the past year.
Reported by 1 outlet — Chicago Sun-Times. See all sources ↓
<p>Chicago Public Schools students will head back to class next week with backpacks full of new supplies, mostly requested by their school.</p><p>School supply lists can have families spending more than previous years, but with <a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/economy/2026/06/11/spiking-gas-prices-chicagoans-stop-rising-food-prices-inflation" >rising inflation</a> some parents could be spending even more than they expected.</p><p>A Deloitte survey of Chicago K-12 parents found they planned to spend $794 per child on back-to-school items this year, up 7% year over year.</p><p>And rising costs could contribute to the figure. A report last month from Groundwork Collaborative and The Century Foundation found the price of typical school supplies increased by 7.7% over the past year. The average price of some items saw sharp increases year over year, like lunch boxes, which jumped by 26.8%, notebooks (up 23%) and index cards (22.2%), according to the report.</p><p>CPS parent Karen Mannerino remembers spending less than $100 on school supplies for all three of her kids.</p><p>Now, as two kids head into second and fifth grade at Wildwood Elementary and the oldest starts 11th grade at Lane Tech College Prep, she estimates spending about $300 total to complete each child's supply list.</p><p>Mannerino said she started shopping in June and continued buying throughout the summer. In prior years, she purchased a box with the required school supplies sold by Wildwood.
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- <p>Chicago Public Schools students will head back to class next week with backpacks full of new supplies, mostly requested by their school.</p><p>School supply lists can have families spending more than previous years, but with <a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/economy/2026/06/11/spiking-gas-prices-chicagoans-stop-rising-food-prices-inflation" >rising inflation</a> some parents could be spending even more than they expected.</p><p>A Deloitte survey of Chicago K-12 parents found they planned to spend $794 per child on back-to-school items this year, up 7% year over year.</p><p>And rising costs could contribute to the figure. A report last month from Groundwork Collaborative and The Century Foundation found the price of typical school supplies increased by 7.7% over the past year.
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Back-to-school supplies expected to be higher. How much would some CPS families spend?
Sources1TypeCoverageChicago Sun-Times