Standing on a paper soapbox

Denise Oppenhagen
Published: September 6, 2008

Today, I’m on a soapbox. And any of you with children in the public schools can probably anticipate what my soapbox is: schools use too much paper.

I thought I had it rough with just one child. This week he brought home for signature two emergency cards and seven syllabi of at least two pages each. There were several other forms that I can’t even
remember. All of these documents needed to be signed asap so my son could get his locker assignment. I really didn’t have enough time to properly read the forms that I signed as having been read and
agreed to. 

First, let me address my pet peeve with these forms: the emergency card. Each year, we need to fill out and sign two emergency cards. Why two? With the computer system the school has (and with
which I am truly impressed, by the way), why can’t we fill out one card and then enter that information on the system? I was talking with a man in line at Starbucks on Tuesday night. He had three kids to
fill out forms for.  That’s six emergency cards with the same information. Way back when I was in school, the teachers would give the forms to the eldest child in the family for the parents to sign and then
they would keep their files in alphabetical order rather than by grade level. 

And why not add a line to the form that says “no change.” A lot of folks move in and out of the county, but there are just as many of us who live here for our children’s entire school career. If the school
feels that it has to send emergency cards home, add a a line that says “no change” so we can just make a check mark and be done.

But there is another option, in the interest of saving paper, trees, and money. 

Have the school send out a mass e-mail asking parents to complete the information on-line. If you think that this won’t work because parents won’t take the time, think again. Keep the policy that the
student cannot have a locker (or textbooks) unless the forms are filled out and the students will press their parents to fill out the information. If needed, a second e-mail can be sent out. Then those
parents for whom there is no e-mail can receive paper forms, as well as the parents who still haven’t filled out the form. This would save an incredible amount of paper and money. Think about it: according
to the Prince William County Schools’ “Profile of Excellence” report, there are 37,832 middle and high school students. 

If only ten percent of the parents filled out the form on-line, that would result in a savings of 7,566 pieces of paper just for the emergency cards. Granted, the resulting savings in this scenario would be
small (approximately $54.00), chances are more than ten percent will reply on-line. In any event, saving 7,566 pieces of paper can save a tree. 

The syllabi could be treated the same way, with the parent reading them on-line and then sending an e-mail to the teacher acknowledging that they read it. If half the teachers did this, they would save at
least six sheets of paper per student. This saves a whopping (if my math is correct) 226,992 sheets of paper. This could save a lot of trees (and approximately $1,620 dollars). 

I’m lowballing these numbers.  The actual amounts would probably be higher.

At any rate, making the effort to conserve natural resources would be a great public relations move as well as a great budget-cutting move. 

And it would make parents and students more aware of the amount of paper that is used, especially in September. And it would save many a parent’s hand from the cramps that result from signing too
many forms.

Just an idea from a paper overwhelmed parent.

Denise Oppenhagen is a longtime resident of Prince William County and can be reached at .