As school supplies costs climb higher than ever, Maine families seek out deals

A Maine Nonprofit Gives Teachers a Free Supply Store — But Rising Costs Are Forcing Hard Choices

PORTLAND — Tucked inside a former insurance company warehouse in the Stroudwater neighborhood, a small nonprofit is preparing to welcome nearly 200 educators through its doors later this month, carts at the ready, to fill up on donated classroom supplies at no cost.

The organization, Ruth's Reusable Resources, has been running this operation since 1994, when founder Ruth Libby started the program in the basement of her home. More than three decades later, the warehouse shelves stretch nearly to the ceiling, stacked with everything from Valentine's Day pencils that never sold to staplers from offices that have gone paperless, imperfect sheets of felt, mugs with misprinted corporate logos, and bulk bags of binder clips.

"This is a magical place for teachers," said operations manager Lisa Thomas-Willey. "I'm kind of afraid of what would happen if we ever advertised."

Maine schools pay a membership fee of $3.75 per student, and any teacher at a participating school can visit as often as needed throughout the year to take what they need. Some items carry per-visit limits, but there are few other restrictions. Thomas-Willey said that for every dollar a school pays in membership fees, teachers take more than $10 worth of materials home with them.

Last school year, 176 Maine schools signed up with Ruth's. Some teachers drive two hours each way to reach the Portland warehouse, and the organization is considering opening a second location, possibly in the Bangor area, to better serve schools in northern Maine.

The stakes have never felt higher. A recent analysis of weekly retail transaction data from roughly 50,000 retailers, conducted by two progressive think tanks, found that the cost of 21 common school supplies has climbed sharply over last year. Essentials like No. 2 pencils and crayons have risen 6.1% and 5.3% respectively. The increases have been attributed to a combination of rising oil prices and tariffs. Lunch boxes, notebooks and tissues have seen some of the steepest jumps.

That pressure has reached even Ruth's. A donation program the organization has run for 20 years, which fills roughly 5,000 backpacks each year with bulk-purchased brand-new supplies for children in need, is on hold this season. With costs rising and donations declining, staff had to choose between the backpack drive and their core service to teachers.

"When a family can't pay rent, can't put gas in their car, can't buy food, they're not buying school supplies," Thomas-Willey said. "It's one of the first things that goes."

That sentiment was echoed by shoppers at the Walmart Supercenter in Scarborough last week, where many customers browsing the seasonal back-to-school section were not shopping for their own children.

Linda Boisvert, who works for Biddeford schools riding the bus with special needs students, was buying markers and colored pencils to donate to Sweetser's supply fundraiser. Sonia Morris, originally from Jamaica, was loading her cart with 35-cent composition notebooks to ship to students there who lack access to basic supplies, a mission she took on with renewed urgency after Hurricane Melissa caused catastrophic damage last year.

"There are so many that are unfortunate, that cannot afford it, and I think it's the right thing to do if you find yourself with $10 extra and don't know what to do with it," Morris said.

At Walmart, Target and Staples in the Greater Portland area, a box of 24 classic yellow pencils runs between $1.82 and $3.49, depending on whether they're pre-sharpened. Basic composition books sell for between 35 and 50 cents. Target has said that 95% of its school supply deals are priced at or below last year's retail prices, while Matt Waddell, assistant manager at the Scarborough Walmart, said the company has rolled out 1,300 more temporary discount prices on school supplies than it offered last year. Since 2019, he noted, Walmart has offered the lowest price on the market for 14 of the most popular school items, including scissors and two-packs of glue sticks.

Still, some shoppers were caught off guard. Abby Cummings, 22, about to start law school in Rhode Island, said she was shocked by the price of legal pads after shopping for deals at Target, Dick's and Staples.

Others were less attuned to specific price changes. Amy Plante, shopping at Target in South Portland for her rising first grader, said she wanted a new backpack but could not easily tell whether prices had climbed since last year.

"I'm just so used to everything feeling more expensive these days, that I am just willing to be like, 'That's a lot of money, but so is everything else,'" she said.

Local school districts say they try to keep supply lists as simple as possible. Portland Public Schools does not ask families to provide supplies for students, opting instead to purchase items at the school level, though some individual schools offer families the option to donate shared classroom items like crayons.

For most Portland teachers, that means Ruth's remains the primary resource. The warehouse reopens in late August, and staff and volunteers are racing to get the aisles ready. Ruth Libby, now well into her seventies, was sorting supplies earlier this month alongside Thomas-Willey and the team.

This year, Ruth's had to start buying a small number of items new, single-subject notebooks among them, because donations alone cannot keep up with demand.

Thomas-Willey said the team hopes to bring back the backpack donation program next year. For now, they are focused on making sure that when the doors open, the teachers who come through them find what they need to start the school year.

"We have teachers who drive two hours each way," she said. "They're doing this because they care about their kids. We're doing this because we care about their kids, too."