Back-to-School Supplies Cost California Parents Nearly $175 This Year, Up 7.7%

California parents are getting hit twice this back-to-school season. School supplies cost more, and a chunk of the county's food assistance safety net is about to disappear.

The average basket of 21 essential school supplies now costs $173.45, a 7.7% increase from last year, according to an analysis by Groundwork Collaborative and The Century Foundation cited by Times of San Diego. For families buying supplies for more than one kid, that's real money.

Some items jumped far more than the average. Notebooks are up about 23%. Notebook paper climbed 20%. Index cards rose 22.2%. Lunch boxes are nearly 27% more expensive than last year. Dry-erase markers and glue sticks are up roughly 8%, while No. 2 pencils, crayons, colored pencils and binders each rose 5% to 7%.

The drivers are straightforward: higher manufacturing costs, general inflation, and rising prices on imported goods, since many of these supplies are made overseas. None of that is mysterious. It's the same cost pressure showing up in grocery aisles and gas pumps, just landing on backpacks and pencil cases instead.

"Everything goes up but the paycheck," Mark Davis, a San Diego father of five, told NBC 7. "I have to pay for gas, rent, bills, and food [for all of us]. It's a struggle day-to-day, but you gotta get up and make it."

Davis was one of the parents who showed up Saturday to a back-to-school assistance event in Encanto, timed just ahead of San Diego Unified School District's return to classes Monday. The event was organized by California state Sen. Akilah Weber Pierson, who told reporters she wanted families to know where to turn "because of the cuts that are coming as a result of some of the legislation."

San Diego County officials estimate more than 93,000 people will lose CalFresh food benefits this year. For families already stretching a paycheck to cover rent, utilities and school supplies, losing food assistance on top of rising prices compounds the burden.

The county has stood up a Safety Net Bridge program to soften that blow, including a food distribution event held in Chula Vista Saturday. Jose Miranda, a father of four whose family relies on multiple forms of assistance, said making ends meet requires both him and his wife working full time. That's the reality for a lot of households right now: two incomes, multiple assistance programs, and still coming up short at the register.

What needs clarification is what's driving the CalFresh reductions. The reporting here attributes the cuts to unspecified "legislation" per Sen. Weber Pierson's comments, without naming the specific bill, whether it's state or federal, or detailing the eligibility changes involved. Families deserve to know exactly which policy is cutting their benefits and why, not just that cuts are "coming."

There's also a question about how much of this price surge is tariff-driven versus general inflation versus normal supply-and-demand churn in back-to-school season, which always sees price spikes as retailers know parents have no choice but to buy. The Groundwork Collaborative and Century Foundation analysis points to imported goods pricing as a factor, but doesn't break out exactly how much of the 7.7% increase comes from tariffs specifically versus broader cost pressures. That distinction matters for anyone trying to figure out which policy lever, if any, would actually bring prices down.

What's not in dispute is the math parents are doing at checkout. A $173 supply list is real money, and it's landing at the same time some families are losing food benefits. San Diego Unified starts classes Monday. The bills don't wait for policy clarity.