Ky. district bans backpacks for middle and high school students. Will others follow?

Knox County Schools has banned backpacks for middle and high schools, primarily to prohibit students from using a bag to conceal items and for other safety concerns, spokesman Frank Shelton said.

Eric Kennedy, director of advocacy for the Kentucky School Boards Association, said his group was not aware of any other local school district board in Kentucky that had a policy banning backpacks.

“Marshall may have effectively done so but maybe not actually in board policy,” said Kennedy.

Knox Schools spokesman Frank Shelton said the “no backpack” policy addresses several safety concerns.

First, he said, it prohibits students from using a bag to conceal items.

“That is one less method that a student has to bring something into the building,” Shelton said. “With school safety on the minds of many due to recent school and public gathering shootings, we hope that our students and families see this as one more measure we are taking to protect students.”

The policy also addresses other safety and health concerns that are often overlooked until injury, he said. Many backpacks and other bags have multiple straps that extend from the bag of varying lengths. These straps can pose a tripping hazard in classrooms and on school buses.

“In the classroom our teachers are implementing various cooperative, group learning, strategies that allow students to move around the room,” he said. “Whether it is moving desks or walking around the room, the bags take up space.”

Another concern is the amount of weight that students carry in backpacks and how that impacts their posture, muscles and joints. With laptops being implemented in classrooms, and lockers being provided to students, the need for a backpack is practically eliminated, he said.

Shelton said because there is a lack of state textbook funds, the Knox district has switched to online curriculum and learning management systems to provide supplemental materials for instruction. Students can access the applications at home, prior to school beginning, and for after school programs.

For those classes with a textbook, textbooks are often shared among classes that are not removed from the classroom, he said.

Last year and again for the upcoming school year, Knox County will be using federal COVID-19 funds to purchase school supplies for all grade levels. For the middle and high school, this means that items such as pencils, paper and folders will be provided as needed. Also, materials for projects and other learning opportunities will be provided. That reduces the need for a backpack, Shelton said.

The ban does not apply to elementary school students, school officials said.

Six or seven years ago, Shelton said, Knox County Middle School implemented a no backpack policy. At the time, students were going through the metal detectors that had been installed at the school. The metal detectors followed the Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting in Connecticut and were strongly supported by the community.

The school was facing long lines and the difficulty of checking bags and getting students to class on time.

Last year, Knox County’s Lynn Camp Middle High School implemented the same policy. At both Lynn Camp and Knox Middle schools, students are assigned lockers where they can keep instructional materials, jackets and other items safely stored.

Knowing that student-athletes may need to bring in a duffle bag for athletic gear, and student groups traveling overnight may need to bring in luggage, both schools have designated a safe space to keep those bags until the students would need them.

Earlier this spring the district received feedback from Knox Central High School that they would like to implement the same no backpack policy that was already in place at Knox County Middle School and at Lynn Camp schools.

Since all middle and high schools were going to the no backpack policy, Shelton said, the Board of Education included the policy in the district’s student code of conduct for the upcoming 2022-2023 school year. That occurred at a June meeting, district officials said on the school district’s website.

How some other KY school districts handle backpacks

WKYT, the Herald-Leader’s reporting partner, reported in 2019 that the Marshall County school district did not allow backpacks in the high school or middle schools. In 2018, 15-year-old Gabriel Parker shot and killed two fellow students at Marshall County High School and wounded several others.

On Friday, Marshall County Superintendent Steve Miracle told the Herald-Leader, “We do not allow backpacks. Sports bags, purses, etc. are looked through.”

In Lexington, Fayette County Public Schools allows each campus to determine requirements and procedures related to backpacks and book bags, said spokeswoman Lisa Deffendall.

Deffendall said she was not aware of any schools that have a backpack or bookbag ban.

Also, said Deffendall, “Fayette County Public schools is not considering any changes to its backpack procedures at this time.”

At Lexington’s Winburn Middle School, students who want to carry bookbags or backpacks about the building are asked to use ones made of clear or mesh materials.

Any other backpack is acceptable to transport items between school and home but for safety, school officials are asking all students to keep those in their lockers during the day.

“We provide clear bags for all students to carry daily supplies such as a binder and their chrome book,” school officials said.

The instructions about clear bags are in Winburn Middle Schools’ dress code policy approved by that school council, Deffendall said.

Bookbag bans have also been addressed elsewhere in the United States.

CBS reported last month that starting June 7, students in Broward County, Florida Public Schools would no longer be allowed to take their backpacks to school for their last days of school.