School board regrets giving parents advice on where to shop for class supplies

ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – A school district in St. John’s, N.L., says it regrets parents of a Kindergarten class were advised to avoid a certain store when buying back-to-school supplies.

The Newfoundland and Labrador English School District doesn’t say in a statement which store it was suggested that parents avoid.

It says they were asked to avoid “a particular business” when buying supplies from a back-to-school list, which was put on a school website by mistake and later removed.

The Kindergarten list was one of eleven school supply lists for the unnamed school.

The district says it recognizes this is an expensive time of year and it’s up to parents and the guardians of children to decide where they shop.

Teachers sometimes give advice on the best purchases, but the district says it doesn’t want to influence where people buy school supplies.

“As a district, we attempt to neither discourage nor encourage parents/guardians to purchase specific brands or frequent certain businesses, although suggestions are sometimes offered based on the experience of our classroom teachers regarding quality and longevity of basic school supplies,” the statement says.