Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, July 6, 1995 TAG: 9507060038
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
School administrators are replacing some memos with e-mail computer messages.
Newsletters sent to parents are being cut back.
Double-sided copying is mandated in some school systems.
Paper-towel dispensers in bathrooms in some schools are being replaced with hand dryers.
Schools in Western Virginia and across the nation are searching for ways to offset skyrocketing paper costs. Prices have soared in recent months on copy paper, notebooks, textbooks and toilet paper.
"It's killing us," said Michael Bryant, assistant superintendent for Salem. "We knew the prices were going up, but we didn't know that it was going to be this dramatic."
The price for copy paper has more than doubled - from $16.50 to $35.40 a case.
For Salem, that can mean an increase of $13,000 a year. Salem uses about 670 to 700 cases of copy paper a year.
For the Roanoke school system, the increase is about $60,000 a year.
"When you double the cost, you feel it," said Richard Kelley, Roanoke's assistant superintendent for operations. "People are going to have to be frugal with the use of paper. Schools will have to determine how they can save."
Roanoke County is facing an increase of nearly $63,000 a year for copy paper. It uses about 3,300 cases a year.
Some school systems in the Roanoke Valley are looking for cheaper alternatives to the $35.40 a case that was quoted to their purchasing consortium.
One vendor has offered to provide recycled paper at $29.45 a case, but Kelley said it might not be suitable for all uses.
"Schools might be able to use it for some things," he said. "The schools can decide what they can use it for."
One retail store has offered to sell copy paper at $29 a case, Bryant said, but he's not sure that it can supply all of Salem's needs.
Roanoke County is exploring the possibility of buying some paper through a state purchasing contract, but the supplies are uncertain.
Kelley said the school systems also face cost increases for writing tablets, file folders, envelopes, paper towels and other paper products.
Bids on some of these items have not been received, and the severity of increase remains unknown.
"But there will be increases on all paper products," Kelley said.
Schools might have to cut back other supplies to help offset the rising costs of paper, he said.
Bryant said he has talked with school principals about the need to conserve paper, but no systemwide conservation policies have been issued.
"I think teachers will be doing more work on the blackboards now to help save paper," he said.
Clarence McClure, Botetourt County superintendent, said he hopes the high prices are temporary. "We are considering not buying paper [ahead of time] for the entire year and hope that prices come down during the year," he said.
McClure said Botetourt schools will be told to copy on both sides of the paper and "don't run off any unnecessary copies."
In one school district in Washington state, school cafeterias are switching from disposable trays to washable plastic trays because of the increase in paper costs.
Textbook publishers, along with other commercial paper users, are expected to pass higher costs on to school systems.
Houghton-Mifflin Co., a Boston textbook publisher, said its book prices have increased an average of 4 percent. Steck-Vaughn Publishing Corp. in Austin, Texas, reports that the price of a $10 textbook might increase as much as $2.
Unlike the private sector, school systems can't pass on the cost increases to customers. School officials said schools can reduce the use of paper or find alternatives, but schools can't do without paper because education is communication.
by CNB