Pencils, Paper and Plenty More: Comparing Lincoln County’s School Supply Lists
- John Eads
- Aug 11
- 5 min read
LINCOLN COUNTY, Mo. — Pencils, notebooks, crayons and glue may be staples of back-to-school shopping, but the final bill can look considerably different depending on where a child attends school in Lincoln County.
Lincoln CountyWatch collected 2026-27 school supply lists from Lincoln County R-III, Silex R-I, Elsberry R-II and Winfield R-IV and priced the required items at Walmart to get a better idea of what families could expect to spend.
Rather than trying to compare every grade and classroom across four districts, LCW selected three benchmark grades — first, fifth and seventh — providing a snapshot of costs from early elementary school through middle school.
For the comparison, LCW priced required classroom supplies using reasonably priced Walmart products. Backpacks, shoes, clothing, water bottles, deodorant and other highly variable purchases were excluded. Optional and elective-specific items were also left out, while required headphones and calculators were included.
Elementary families pay a $30 school supply fee. First-grade supplies were estimated at about $75. First-grade supplies were estimated at about $28. First-grade supplies were estimated at about $42.
First Grade
The biggest differences showed up early.
At Boone Elementary in Lincoln County R-III, LCW calculated approximately $28.32 in first-grade supplies.
Silex's first-grade list came to approximately $42.49.
Clarence Cannon Elementary in Elsberry uses a completely different system. Rather than sending kindergarten through fourth-grade families shopping for individual classroom supplies, the school charges a flat $30 supply fee per child. Families provide their own backpack, while headphones or earbuds are optional.
Winfield's first-grade list produced the highest initial estimate at approximately $75.03, although that list also asks families to provide larger quantities of several classroom consumables than some neighboring districts.
That creates a range of $46.71 between the lowest traditional first-grade list we priced and the highest.
Silex's first-grade list, for example, calls for two 24-packs of pencils, crayons, markers, two large glue sticks, two pink erasers, dry-erase markers, a notebook, hand sanitizer, two containers of disinfecting wipes, paper towels, two boxes of tissues and classroom headphones.
The comparison also demonstrates how quantity matters. A container of wipes or package of markers may not be particularly expensive by itself, but multiple packages of wipes, glue sticks, markers, tissues and other consumables can quickly push a shopping cart higher.
Fifth Grade
The gap narrows considerably by fifth grade.
LCW's estimated fifth-grade totals were:
Lincoln County R-III — Boone Elementary: $32.47
Elsberry R-II: $35.68
Silex R-I: $41.18
Winfield R-IV: $40.30
That puts all four fifth-grade estimates within $8.71 of one another.
Boone's fifth-grade list includes two 24-packs of pencils, glue sticks, markers or colored pencils, a pencil pouch, three spiral notebooks, scissors, two boxes of tissues, highlighters, four dry-erase markers, wired headphones, four pocket folders, sticky notes and a roll of paper towels.
Silex's fifth-grade list includes a binder, loose-leaf paper, three composition notebooks, disinfecting wipes, hand sanitizer, pencils, highlighters, pens, colored pencils, crayons or markers, glue sticks, two boxes of tissues, dry-erase markers, paper towels and classroom headphones.
The fifth-grade comparison is noticeably tighter than first grade, despite differences in exactly what each district asks families to purchase.
Seventh Grade
By seventh grade, the contents of the cart change again.
Troy Middle School's common middle-school supply list came to approximately $25.36 using LCW's Walmart pricing.
Elsberry's seventh-grade requirements came to approximately $44.31.
Silex's seventh-grade total landed in the upper-$30 range based on the applicable middle-school requirements.
Winfield's seventh-grade list also includes a mix of traditional supplies, classroom consumables and middle-school organizational materials.
One reason middle-school costs can change quickly is the calculator.
LCW priced a basic calculator at $8.67 and a scientific calculator at $9.74. A TI-30XS MultiView, where that particular model is required, was priced at $21.88.
A calculator can therefore cost more by itself than several packages of pencils, folders and notebooks combined.
Why Elsberry Looks Different
Elsberry's $30 elementary supply fee makes its first-grade comparison fundamentally different from the other districts.
Instead of asking families to locate and purchase individual quantities of pencils, crayons, glue, tissues and other supplies, Clarence Cannon Elementary handles those purchases through the fee.
For a family with multiple elementary-aged children, that also makes the expense predictable: two children covered by the program would mean $60 in supply fees; three would mean $90, before backpacks or optional headphones.
Beginning in fifth grade, Elsberry students return to traditional individual supply lists.
What the Comparison Does — and Doesn't — Include
LCW's totals are intended to provide an apples-to-apples look at the standard classroom supply bill, not the complete cost of getting a child ready for school.
Prices were collected at Walmart during the back-to-school shopping season. When schools requested standard supplies, LCW used reasonably priced products that met the requirement. When a specific type of item was required, such as wired headphones or a calculator, that item was included.
Backpacks were excluded because prices vary widely and many students reuse them. Shoes, clothing, water bottles, deodorant and similar purchases were also excluded.
Optional supplies, elective-specific materials and other items that would not apply equally to every student in the benchmark grade were not used to determine the base comparison.
Those exclusions matter. A parent buying a new backpack, school clothes and shoes in addition to everything on the classroom list could spend considerably more than the figures in this comparison.
High school was also intentionally excluded.
LCW contacted the high schools where universal lists were unavailable and found that supply requirements increasingly depend on a student's individual schedule and teachers. In some cases, students do not know all of the materials they will need until they attend their classes.
Trying to place one universal dollar amount on high-school supplies would therefore create a comparison that does not reflect what individual students are actually asked to purchase.
Back to School Begins Aug. 24
Lincoln County R-III students return to class Monday, Aug. 24.
Silex R-I, Elsberry R-II and Winfield R-IV students begin the 2026-27 school year Tuesday, Aug. 25.
For families making their way through the school-supply aisle, the comparison shows that the little things can become the big things at checkout.
Pencils and paper remain cheap. But add headphones, tissues, disinfecting wipes, dry-erase markers, binders, calculators and multiples of the same item, and the total begins climbing.
And sometimes, two students entering the same grade just a few miles apart can walk into the first day of school with very different shopping receipts.
About Lincoln CountyWatch
Lincoln CountyWatch is part of the County Watch Network (CWN), an independent local news organization providing fact-based coverage of Lincoln County and the surrounding region. Our reporting includes breaking news, public safety, local government, courts, business, community events, weather, and investigative journalism.
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Story by: John Eads
Primary Sources
2026-27 Lincoln County R-III school supply lists
2026-27 Winfield R-IV school supply lists
2026-27 Silex R-I school supply lists
2026-27 Elsberry R-II school supply information
Clarence Cannon Elementary school supply fee information
Information provided directly by Lincoln County schools
Walmart school supply prices collected by Lincoln CountyWatch on Aug. 10, 2026
Lincoln CountyWatch school supply cost calculations
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