Over the weekend, we asked you about back-to-school shopping, and getting ready for the upcoming school year. We had a great response to our poll here on Discover Weyburn, and the results were a little surprising in some aspects, but understandable at the same time.  

The first question was whether or not all the school supplies had been purchased for the children in the home. An overwhelming 64 percent of those who took part in the poll said they had finished all of the back-to-school shopping, while 36 percent said no.  

When it comes to how much is spent on back-to-school shopping, per student, the amount is starting to creep up. Over half of all the respondents, 52 percent, said they are spending more than $150 on back-to-school supplies per child. The next two price ranges, tied at 20 percent each, were the $51 to $100 range, and the $101 to $150 range. Just eight percent said they will be spending, or have spent, less than $50 for school supplies for each child this year. 

So where is this money going?  

It turns out, that most people are going out of Weyburn to get their back-to-school shopping done. The responses showed that 3 out of 5 people, or 60 percent, will be spending their back-to-school dollars outside of Weyburn. Just 24 percent said they would be staying in Weyburn for all of their back-to-school shopping and 16 percent didn’t know if they would be staying in Weyburn or not.  

One of the popular ways people are getting school supplies in recent years is through the website School Start. Last week, they advised there would be delays in shipping items due to a fire, so we asked if any of the parents were affected by that delay. Only 12 percent of the respondents said yes, they were affected by the fire, while 88 percent said this had no impact on their back-to-school shopping.  

Then, the big question: Are the kids ready to go back to school? Not surprisingly, just 40 percent of the respondents said they were ready to head back to the classroom. Twelve percent answered maybe, while 48 percent said the kids aren’t ready to go back to classes.  

We also asked what some of the challenges of getting the kids ready to go back to school are. The most common response is getting back into the routines for the school year – early to bed, early to rise, and so forth. As well, there is the challenge of figuring out everything from lunches to going through supplies from previous years to see what is needed to be purchased.  

The school year in Weyburn kicks off on September 5th for all grades.

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