I just want to butt in as a former elementary level admin. A lot of the times we split the supplies up at K-5 because it evens out the playing field so to speak. When Kid A has his name brand 64 pack crayons with the sharpener built into the box and Kid B has the cheapest waxy ones that don't even color right and come with just one shade of each color it gets noticed, fast. Kids are vicious little things and will pick up on that stuff so fast and use it as a source of teasing. If their supplies are not at their desk it's a lot easier for them to focus on the tasks at hand too. The supply lists are absolutely inflated but it will all get used before the school year even comes to an end.
Also, 12 glue sticks for K level seems pretty reasonable considering how fast they are burned through in the hands of a child. I used to tell the kids all the time to only dot the corners and the center of what they were gluing and you would still have kids trying to color the whole page with the glue stick before applying it to the other surface.
If you really want to buy some supplies for cheap too, wait until a few weeks after school has started up again. Target and Wal-mart both will put all their extra supplies dropped down to crazy cheap prices. I usually start looking around August through September.