Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - With Puerto Vallarta schools now back in session, the City Council, through the Social Development Department, has begun the annual distribution of backpacks filled with school supplies, along with uniforms and shoes, to local preschool, primary and secondary school students.

At the program's launch on Wednesday Puerto Vallarta's Interim Mayor, Rodolfo Domínguez Monroy, explained that the backpacks, which are filled with all of the school supplies listed for each grade, are the Municipal Government's priority since the new school year has already begun for the 52,000 students that will benefit from this program.

The 29,800 students that were enrolled in the Department of Social Development's School Shoes and Uniform Program will have to wait a little bit longer to be outfitted for the 2018-2019 school year, since ensuring that they all receive the correct uniform type and size takes extra time.

The Deputy Director of Social Development, Alejandro Aguilar Gutiérrez, said that parent involvement facilitates the delivery process. "Our staff has been working with parents for a couple of years now; the majority are helping us deliver the supplies to their children's schools," he said.

Parental involvement comes as no surprise since the municipal program allows their children to go back to school wearing good shoes and nice uniforms; carrying backpacks with all the tools and supplies they'll need over the course of the school year; and protected by student insurance that provides school accident coverage of up to 40,000 pesos. All of this represents a significant cost savings for local families.

While the parents' participation is greatly appreciated, it should be noted that the municipal government has invested $27,113,00 pesos to fund these back-to-school programs. While the State of Jalisco supports the backpack program by matching municipal funds peso for peso, the city of Puerto Vallarta covers 100% of the cost of the school uniforms, shoes and insurance.