REDMOND, OR -- Local school districts are readying a return to the classroom after summer break. Online calendars and parent apps are getting updated with information, including school supply lists.

As costs for back-to-school pile up, Redmond School District’s Holly Brown tells me there is help for parents, “We have our family access network, the fan and there are advocates at most of the schools. You can figure out who your fan advocate is on the school website and they have a lot of resources available. So… backpacks, pencils, notebooks, all of that kind of stuff.”

There’s also more help available for meals. “Free and reduced lunches are a great thing to apply for because the standards have actually changed a little. So, families that might not have been eligible in the past could be eligible now,” says Brown, who urges families to check if they now qualify.

Redmond and other districts are also working to provide parents and students with more information on how to use social media responsibly.  “We're seeing a lot of behaviors coming from social media and it can really affect the student's mental health. So, we're working with counselors and getting as much data backed research that we can to help share that information in a digestible way to families,” Brown says.

There are volunteer opportunities to help out at a school, too. Anyone interested should check their school's website.