Arlington County Public Schools - backpacks banned for safety?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At WMS, there isn’t enough space in classrooms to have backpacks. Everyone would be tripping on the bags

WMS is drastically under-enrolled now.

It’s clear you don’t have a student there.
The school as a whole is under enrolled, which means they have fewer teachers allocated by the county. This also means that classes are packed full because you can’t spread kids across multiple teachers. Some teachers are having to teach multiple subjects this year because of the issue with under allocation of teachers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always thought it was because hallways are so crowded and backpacks make them doubly crowded?

I wonder if HBW has this policy…

handbook alluded to not keeping valuables in backpacks outside of lockers, it would seem it is expected to keep backpacks with the student.

https://hbwoodlawn.apsva.us/wp-content/uploads/sites/40/2019/09/2019-20-HBW-Handbook.pdf

I thought students never use lockers anymore because they are always too little time to retrieve items from them??

HS kids don't use lockers. MS kids do.

What do HS kids do? Bring their backpacks into each class?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At WMS, there isn’t enough space in classrooms to have backpacks. Everyone would be tripping on the bags

WMS is drastically under-enrolled now.

That doesn’t necessarily mean they have fewer kids in each classroom- they just use fewer classrooms

Which is awful. They are terribly over crowded in classes yet severely under enrolled as a school… complete mismanagement by APS leaders…. However, it’s really the County disregarding the different schools’ needs with their density mania, and it is only getting worse.

[Anonymous]

Kenmore parent here. Backpacks aren’t banned, they just can’t be carried around. It’s a space safety issue, not a gun/knife/drug issue. Kids can carry smaller bags throughout the day. Mine uses a drawstring bag and carries the things for one or two classes at a time only if isn’t enough time to get to the locker between certain classes.

[Anonymous]

They can use them to go to/from Williamsburg but not in the halls to/from class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think WMS didn’t allow kids to keep backpacks on during the school day but they could wear them to and from school. Water bottles also had to be clear. This was several years ago so policy may have changed.

This. Kenmore does not ban backpacks; they go in locker at beginning of day and come out at end.

You cannot carry a backpack between classes.

Not sure of the logic but they say it is for “safety reason”.

Not like a kid can’t hide a knife, cellphone or gun on them. Maybe kids were using their backpacks as clubs or something?

I don’t get why this would be an issue with anyone. Backpacks should stay in lockers. So you’re telling me that before, kids would carry backpacks from class to class? That sounds insane to me and probably why so many kids have back issues

What's so "insane" about it?? It was the HS norm a generation ago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think WMS didn’t allow kids to keep backpacks on during the school day but they could wear them to and from school. Water bottles also had to be clear. This was several years ago so policy may have changed.

This. Kenmore does not ban backpacks; they go in locker at beginning of day and come out at end.

You cannot carry a backpack between classes.

Not sure of the logic but they say it is for “safety reason”.

Not like a kid can’t hide a knife, cellphone or gun on them. Maybe kids were using their backpacks as clubs or something?

I don’t get why this would be an issue with anyone. Backpacks should stay in lockers. So you’re telling me that before, kids would carry backpacks from class to class? That sounds insane to me and probably why so many kids have back issues

Kids have back issues because of over doing sports, not backpacks. Do they even have text books anymore? How heavy can a MacBook be?

[Anonymous]

Last year, I had a 6th grader and an 8th grader at Swanson. The 6th graders were not allowed to carry backpacks, but the 8th graders were allowed to carry them. The explanation was that the 6th grade hallway was smaller and more crowded than the 8th grade hallway. I never understood that explanation, but there is a lot that I don't understand about Swanson. We got my 6th grader a messenger-style bag that was actually not that much smaller than her backpack, but nobody ever had a problem with her carrying the messenger bag at her side. It seemed that only bags carried on the back were flagged as problems in the 6th grade hallway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think WMS didn’t allow kids to keep backpacks on during the school day but they could wear them to and from school. Water bottles also had to be clear. This was several years ago so policy may have changed.

This. Kenmore does not ban backpacks; they go in locker at beginning of day and come out at end.

You cannot carry a backpack between classes.

Not sure of the logic but they say it is for “safety reason”.

Not like a kid can’t hide a knife, cellphone or gun on them. Maybe kids were using their backpacks as clubs or something?

I don’t get why this would be an issue with anyone. Backpacks should stay in lockers. So you’re telling me that before, kids would carry backpacks from class to class? That sounds insane to me and probably why so many kids have back issues

Kids have back issues because of over doing sports, not backpacks. Do they even have text books anymore? How heavy can a MacBook be?

You'd be surprised. I can't believe how heavy my kids' backpacks have been through middle and high school. They've always packed their lunch, so that adds weight; but I don't understand why they're so heavy without actual books. Nevertheless, they ARE.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Last year, I had a 6th grader and an 8th grader at Swanson. The 6th graders were not allowed to carry backpacks, but the 8th graders were allowed to carry them. The explanation was that the 6th grade hallway was smaller and more crowded than the 8th grade hallway. I never understood that explanation, but there is a lot that I don't understand about Swanson. We got my 6th grader a messenger-style bag that was actually not that much smaller than her backpack, but nobody ever had a problem with her carrying the messenger bag at her side. It seemed that only bags carried on the back were flagged as problems in the 6th grade hallway.

It seems like things changed. 8th grader at Swanson told not even string bags allowed during the day. Any mention of allowing clear backpacks like https://www.adidas.com/us/clear-2.0-backpack%0A/JK3401.html perhaps?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always thought it was because hallways are so crowded and backpacks make them doubly crowded?

I wonder if HBW has this policy…

handbook alluded to not keeping valuables in backpacks outside of lockers, it would seem it is expected to keep backpacks with the student.

https://hbwoodlawn.apsva.us/wp-content/uploads/sites/40/2019/09/2019-20-HBW-Handbook.pdf

I thought students never use lockers anymore because they are always too little time to retrieve items from them??

HS kids don't use lockers. MS kids do.

What do HS kids do? Bring their backpacks into each class?

Yes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Totally understand from a safety aspect, but then they need to give the kids a lot longer than 4min to get between classes if they need to be switching out notebooks, gym uniforms and things like that between classes. These schools are big and you'll have a lot of kids late to class.

Hamm parent. No backpacks in classes there either, it's a space issue. No real need to go to lockers in between classes, kids don't have textbooks anymore. They carry binder, pencil pouch, ipad. A book and water if they want. There are no gym uniforms.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always thought it was because hallways are so crowded and backpacks make them doubly crowded?

I wonder if HBW has this policy…

Zero chance. They have an open campus policy, students can just say they are heading off campus

Not true. Parent of a middle schooler at HB. students are asked not to bring backpacks to class due to space constraints. Also most middle schoolers can only go to CVS or 711 which are basically attached to the school. it may be possible/allowed for kids to wear backpacks there but my child doesn't and usually only goes during lunch if at all. backpack rules may be different in high school. A lot of kids carry around small tote bags during the day.

[Anonymous]

I think this is fine for space reasons. As a teacher (I’m elementary) I don’t want to be tripping over people’s backpacks. I can send they can visit their locker in the morning, before lunch, after lunch and after school. They don’t have textbooks and only have four classes a day so it’s manageable for my child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Totally understand from a safety aspect, but then they need to give the kids a lot longer than 4min to get between classes if they need to be switching out notebooks, gym uniforms and things like that between classes. These schools are big and you'll have a lot of kids late to class.

Hamm parent. No backpacks in classes there either, it's a space issue. No real need to go to lockers in between classes, kids don't have textbooks anymore. They carry binder, pencil pouch, ipad. A book and water if they want. There are no gym uniforms.

+1. A lot of kids have a fabric binder, like a trapper keeper, so they can zip things inside. My kid zips her pencil pouch and reading book inside her binder.