WACO, Texas (KWTX) - The school bell hasn't rung yet, but hundreds of local families got a head start on the year ahead Saturday at La Vega ISD's first Back-to-School Bash.

The district handed out 2,500 free backpacks filled with school supplies, aiming to ease the financial burden for families in a district where nearly 9 in 10 students are considered economically disadvantaged."It's very important in this district because actually we are in the 98th percentile of free and reduced lunch," said Tiffany Jackson, who helped coordinate the event.

"With economic times nowadays, we wanted to do as much as we could for our students and our community."Jackson said the event was a districtwide effort, with teams working together to prepare the giveaways."Student services, community engagement, administration... they've helped stuff over 2,500 backpacks for this event," she said.