After a move to Salt Lake City to teach at Washington Elementary School, she learned fast that, due to a provision in the Utah Constitution specifying that elementary education remain cost-free, she must frame her list in the tone of a request.

"You can ask that they bring it in or donate it, but you can't require it. That was new to me," Strombeck said.

Not that Strombeck wasn't used to finagling money for classroom supplies elsewhere. In North Carolina she persuaded a Realtor to buy caps and gowns for her students.

Still, Utah's prohibition against requiring that elementary students buy their own supplies was a small twist on the perennial teacher's struggle of keeping the classroom well stocked. Despite noble efforts on the part of parents and nonprofits, creative fundraising on the part of school principals and administrators, and even now regular infusions of cash for classroom supplies from the Legislature, Utah teachers find they still come up short. That means reaching into the shallow resources of their own paychecks.

The myriad approaches educators sometimes use to squeeze supplies for their classrooms hasn't escaped the attention of the state school board. Last fall it passed new provisions cautioning teachers against inappropriate solicitations, said Carol Lear, state director of school law and legislation. The provisions state that all donations must benefit students and remain free of any conflict of interest or appearance of impropriety.

Utah law allows required fees on secondary education, although students from low-income families can petition for fee waivers. Law aside, though, there's another reason demand for school supplies at the elementary level remains high. Unlike middle schools and high schools, elementary schools burn through art supplies, board games and expensive learning tools such as Leap Pads.

Strombeck estimates she's taken $5,000 out of her total teaching career paycheck so far. "Beg, borrow and steal. That's a teacher's motto," she said.

Her effort mirrors those of most elementary school teachers across the state who, if they're not spending a portion of their paychecks for classroom supply needs, rally funds from a patchwork of sources. Despite annual funding efforts by the Legislature, which last year set aside a one-time appropriation of $10 million for classroom supplies with a similar allotment planned this year, teachers still come up short.

Virginia Henry, a fifth-grade teacher at Granite School District's Rosecrest Elementary School, said she's grateful for the "generous" stipend she received last fall as part of the Legislature's funding effort. As a new hire making less money than seasoned teachers, Henry qualified for a $360 allotment compared with the $285 most teachers receive for supplies. After replacing a toner cartridge and purchasing folders, paper stock and other teacher resource materials, she was surprised at how fast the money went.

"I've spent that already, and more, and it's only February," Henry said. "I'm sure I spend at least $100 a month, sometimes $200 a month of my own money to do the kinds of things I want to do as a teacher."

Conventional wisdom hints that schools in high-income neighborhoods, where parents can afford donations for their children's classroom supplies, escape the bind. Not necessarily.

John Erlacher, principal of Mountain View Elementary, says he's heard of many an affluent school pulling out all the stops in fundraising to pay for supplies and field trips.

His school receives Title 1 federal funds for students from low-income families, so Mountain View has an extra budget ready for some, but not all, classroom supply needs, Erlacher said.

"I still see it [teachers buying supplies] but I don't like it, and I encourage them to rely on the school," Erlacher said.

bfulton@sltrib.com