Shanitta Busby, a mother based in Dallas, Texas, took to TikTok Sept. 29 in frustration after her 13-year-old son received a “zero” in class for not bringing his own school supplies. The upset matriarch’s candid video started an interesting debate. Should parents be responsible for purchasing their own school supplies, or is it the school’s responsibility?
Busby appeared to agree with the latter.
In her viral video Saturday, Busby said she was upset when her son’s seventh-grade honor-level math teacher dropped his grade because he did not bring his own supplies to class. The frustrated mother told her followers that she went shopping for all the items mentioned on his homeroom school supply list ahead of the school year. However, the mom was baffled when she was asked to purchase more items for his math class.
The Dallas resident explained that she and her family had just moved to a new school district, so she wanted to ensure that her child had everything he needed for the first day of class.
“So the first week went well, no concerns, nothing. The second week, he comes home, and he’s like, ‘You know, my teacher said we need to have classroom supplies.’ And I’m like, ‘That’s so weird because we got you everything on the list that you need for the class, and you’re not going to be using any classroom supplies,'” Busby said with a confused look on her face.
A week later, Busby’s son claimed that the math teacher threatened to give him a zero again if he did not bring in his classroom supplies.
“I’m like, ‘Why would she give you a zero? What are you getting a grade for?’ But instead of arguing about it, I just went to go get the classroom supplies, which were tissues, Clorox wipes, hand sanitizer, pencils, Expo markers, red pens, and I gave it to him.”
In the post’s comments section, Busby revealed that the questionable teacher dropped her son’s grade from a 98 to an 83.
Still, Busby’s son had a zero after bringing in the required supplies.
Further along in the video, Busby — who refrained from naming the school or teacher involved in her story — said she contacted the teacher directly after she noticed that her son’s grade wasn’t corrected. This was well after she had purchased the requested supplies.
The “concerned” parent told her followers that she didn’t think it was “appropriate” for a teacher to “assign a grade to students” based on classroom supplies. Busby also emailed the school principal to ask why she had to come out of pocket for the items.
“Am I doing too much?” the puzzled momma captioned her video.
The question sparked a debate in the comments section.
Those in favor of Busby’s stance argued that it was okay for the teacher to request supplies, but they found it odd that the school official would assign a grade for the task.
“You are not wrong! It is 100% okay for her to ask for supplies but mandate it for a grade? Absolutely not,” one user wrote.
Busby replied, “I understand that, but to assign a grade is wrong because what if there are families that literally can’t afford it? A child gets penalized?”
Another TikTok person identified as a teacher and penned, “We usually put classroom supplies on the list, but it’s never a grade. That said, schools should be providing everything with our tax dollars.”
TikTok users against Busby claimed that it wasn’t the school’s responsibility to purchase classroom items for students.
“Teachers don’t make anywhere near enough to supply everything for classrooms, like tissues if your kids have a runny nose or wipes to clean messes,” one user wrote.
Another naysayer chimed in, “I honestly don’t believe there was a grade in this story at all.”
School supplies are getting expensive year by year.
Busby’s complaint isn’t unwarranted. School supplies have become more expensive over the years.
According to a recent study conducted by WorldRemit, prices for school supplies jumped up 28% percent between 2022 and 2023. This year, parents are expected to shell out an average of $229 per child for necessities like stationery items, school uniforms and gym necessities.
The National Retail Federation noted that families with children in elementary and high school were on track to spend an average of $890.07 on back-to-school items this year— a $25 increase from last year’s record high, which was approximately $864.35.
That’s a lot of cash!
Eventually, the teacher updated her son’s grade, and the principal apologized for the mistake.
In an update video published Oct.1, Busby said she received a swift apology from the school principal after her initial post went viral on TikTok. In a lengthy email, the principal told Busby that it wasn’t “common practice” for a teacher to assign a grade to a student who doesn’t have the required supplies.
“The teachers are allowed to ask for donations for classroom supplies, but in no way should it be a mandatory grade,” she told her followers.
The principal also told Busby that the district was responsible for providing students “with backpacks and school supplies.”
“She doesn’t know what the teacher was trying to accomplish, but it definitely wasn’t appropriate,” the mother added.
The proud momma was pleased that the principal listened to her concerns and offered to forward her email to the “direct supervisor” of the math teacher responsible for her son’s grade error. Now, she’ll observe to see if the teacher treats her son “differently” due to her viral post.
We’ll be watching, too!
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