PLANO– Did you finish back to school shopping for the kids?

You might have if your child goes to school in Plano, Texas because some 54,000 students headed back to school on Monday.

“When I first came to Plano in 1992 it was a much smaller community,” School District Superintendent Sara Bonser told NewsFix.  “It`s grown very large, and we have 72 campuses now.”

The kids are undoubtedly jealous of their friends who live in the neighboring cities of Allen, Denton and Lewisville because they start classes on Wednesday. Everybody, however, is envious of the Frisco kids because they don`t return until Thursday.

Plano students will laugh best when they are the first ones out of school next summer.

Parents who are still trying to get last minute supplies say they are overwhelmed because the list of must-have school items just keeps getting longer and longer by the year. Books and pencils are longer enough. Some schools now require students to bring disinfecting wipes, hand sanitizers, liquid soap, paper plates, and sandwich bags.

That`s not even half the list.

With school safety being a major concern nationwide, bulletproof backpacks are flying off shelves too.

Plano School District says students will learn about safety measures during the first week of school.

“All of our students, third grade and above, will review a standard response protocol video so they`re up to speed on what action to take in an emergency,” Executive Director of Safety and Security Service Joseph Parks told NewsFix.

Additionally, some schools are issuing identification badges and implementing state-of-the-art public address systems. Select high schools will have additional police officers present.

“We teach our students and staff four emergency actions: lockout, lockdown, evacuate and shelter,” Parks added.

Let’s hope no student has to use their backpack as a shield this school year.