Red banners designating the ‘seasonal’ and ‘arts and crafts’ sections hung from the ceiling of a warehouse tucked away on Edison Way in Reno. The books and backpacks that were scattered across shelves have been advertised as ‘a Costco just for teachers.’ However, these prices can’t be beat. It is all free.

The Crayons to Computers warehouse is operated by the Washoe County School District’s Education Collaborative and puts miscellaneous items, donated by local businesses, into the hands of classroom teachers.

“It’s not a secret that the amount of money that schools have for art supplies etc. ... is clearly less than what is needed,” WCSD spokesman Steve Mulvenon said. “This started as a way to provide some supplement for that.”

According to Mulvenon, the WCSD apportions each school a per-pupil fund for miscellaneous supplies, which varies by grade level. Elementary Schools receive $59.45 per pupil, middle schools receive $81.46 per pupil and high schools receive $88.78 per pupil.

Last year the warehouse received more than $300,000 of inventory in the form of desks, binders, art supplies and other miscellaneous items from local businesses.

That $300,000 in starting inventory shrunk to $24,000 worth of supplies remaining at the end of the year, according to fiscal coordinator Beki Strauss.

“We turn over a huge amount of stuff,” Denise Hedrick, executive director of the Education Collaborative, said. “I mean we value that at bargain basement prices and you can see here what the turnover is.”

Julie Steiner’s art classroom at Sparks Middle School is decked out in the Education Collaborative warehouse’s wares.

“My desk chair came from there,” Steiner said. “As well as a couple tables … filing slots that sit on the desk … there are a zillion teachers who find something for there classroom.”

To Steiner, it is the little things that she finds at the warehouse that make a difference in her classroom. For example, Steiner found a box of 150 straws at the warehouse that she used for a creative journaling activity.

“That would have been one experience that they would not have had without the straws,” Steiner said. “That’s how for me teaching moments start, when you have an opportunity and you bounce on it.”

The warehouse provides some unusual items, such as old fabric samples and cardboard tubes. Last year, the warehouse received a donation of insulated lunch bags, scooters and Halloween costumes.

“There are all these things that would encourage them (the students) to be better and excited about learning,” Hedrick said.

Strauss said that it mitigates the amount that teachers pull from their own wallets.

“(The benefit is) that they don’t have to go out and spend their own, so they don’t have to spend out of pocket,” Strauss said.

As a teacher, Steiner said that she feels the need to be flexible with her class’s needs and resourceful with her classroom supplies.

“Teachers are the most resourceful people you will ever meet, because we work with no money,” Steiner said. “It is not uncommon for teachers to buy their own things.”

As she hunts for bargains to keep her out-of-pocket expenses low, Steiner said that the warehouse is similar to a garage sale, with better prices.

“Sometimes you hit a really good one and other times you hit a dud,” she said.

The Education Collaborative is a non-profit organization that connects businesses and public schools to provide volunteer, material and financial support.

In 2000, the collaborative moved the warehouse from Glendale Avenue to its current location at 380 Edison Way.

“When the district purchased the place we were able to move (the warehouse) here and avoid some leasing costs,” Hedrick said.

The warehouse is only available to WCSD teachers, who must show their school district ID and sign in before taking any supplies. They must also write down what they took, as the warehouse is audited each year.