Public schools can’t make students buy back-to-school supplies, so community steps in.

Seventeen-year-old incoming Seaside High School junior Evelyn Jimenez runs her fingers through her now shoulder-length hazelnut-colored hair. The haircut came with some parting tears; she took off more than 12 inches. Jimenez can’t remember the last time her hair was cut professionally, but she estimates she was around 6 years old.

Jimenez was one of 10 teenaged Boys and Girls Club members who received free haircuts at Oya Salon in Monterey on July 24, two weeks before most Monterey County schools are scheduled to start. “Every student deserves to feel confident before they go to school,” Oya founder Brian Bode says.

Jimenez echoes the sentiment: “I feel like I’m starting off the year smart and prepared,” she says. “Plus, it’s free.”

Feeling confident and prepared before the start of the school year can come with a hefty price tag for many families, from things like haircuts to school supplies.

When school supply lists are published or mailed, they include things like backpacks, crayons for kindergartners, three-ring binders for middle schoolers and scientific calculators for high schoolers. But as of 2013, AB 1575 has banned California public schools from requiring students to pay for materials related to learning.

In the four years since, local school districts have been fostering partnerships with community organizations to help supply their neediest kids. Those partnerships help spread out the costs of supplying students with essentials, rather than schools alone.

Jessica Hull, spokesperson for the Monterey County Office of Education, says each school district and each school tackles the challenge of short supplies differently.

Some buy classroom sets of books rather than having individual books, or loan out pricey Texas Instrument-brand calculators – or simply don’t specify brands, a factor that could pressure families in spending more.

“Schools can ask for materials, but they can never require a student to have them,” Hull says. “Local community [groups] recognize these are their kids and they want to help them.”

For example, United Way Monterey County teamed up with with the Monterey County Office of Education for the Stuff the Bus campaign. The program’s goal is to supply about 3,000 of an estimated 8,000-plus homeless students in Monterey County with fully prepped backpacks, packed with stuff like looseleaf paper and pencils. At a July 9 auction, United Way raised $1,425 — enough for 71 packed backpacks.

United Way spokesperson Fatima Dias says kids recognize they have resources on campus, like homeless liaisons or well-prepared teachers, who have supplies or who can loan out materials.

But asking for assistance can weigh on a student’s confidence.

“Nobody wants to be the kid constantly raising their hand in class because they’re in need of something as basic as a pencil,” Dias says. “It’s embarrassing for kids and singles them out.” That’s especially true for homeless children, she adds.

“These are kids who aren’t used to owning anything,” Dias says. “Just having a backpack is their own piece of real estate.”