Fresno families scramble with last-minute back to school shopping

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Monday is the first day of school for tens of thousands of students here in the Central Valley.

Many families are doing last minute back-to-school shopping on Sunday, which can tally up to hundreds of dollars.

Parents and kids head to the school supplies section at River Park's Target - filling up on all the pencils, backpacks and other items they need.

"Pencils and paper, index cards, a couple of glue sticks because they go dry," parent Kimi Shehady said.

"Shoes, clothes, backpacks, school supplies, PE clothes," parent Leslie Egan listed off. "You know, locks for lockers, everything. I mean, it's pretty extensive."

Most parents we talked to said they'll spend in the hundreds to get their kids ready to go back to school.

"It ranges between $500 to $800, somewhere in there," Egan said. "$800 would be the top end, probably, but depending on what clothes they're into this year."

In an exclusive Action News poll conducted by Survey USA, a majority of parents of school-aged children told us they'll spend more than $100 when it comes to back to school clothes with 22 percent saying they'll spend more than $300 on things like shirts, shorts and shoes.

As for actual school supplies, a majority of people said they were likely to spend less than $100, with just 7 percent saying they'd spend more than $300 items like notebooks, pencils and more.

The survey also found most parents are spending about the same on school supplies and clothes as they did last year.

Parents we talked to weren't shocked by the results saying the costs can get high, especially if you have more than one child.

But despite the costs, families say they're ready for the new school year to start.

"I love the routine, I think they do too," Shehady said. " We had a great summer, family-packed vacations and now we're we play hard we work hard so we're ready to get back into the routine of it."