NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (WAVY) — New changes are coming for the more than 26,000 students that attend Newport News Public Schools. At the start of the school year on August 28, all students will be required to have a clear plastic backpack.
Following the January 6 shooting at Richneck Elementary School, NNPS has upped its safety and security. This latest policy provides clear backpacks for all students in the division.
This week the district sent a memo to Newport News families saying “traditional solid color backpacks and totes will no longer be allowed” and that clear backpacks “make security checks more efficient.” Solid purses, pocketbooks, gym bags and lunch bags will still be permitted and may be searched.
The move comes nearly six months after a first grade student at Richneck Elementary School intentionally shot his teacher, Abby Zwerner. The school was closed for three and a half weeks and metal detectors were purchased district-wide in an effort to up security measures. When students returned to Richneck on January 30, they were issued clear backpacks for the rest of the 2022-2023 school year.
This past February 10 On Your Side spoke with Mo Canady with the National Association of School Resource Officers about the effectiveness of clear plastic backpacks.
“The durability of a clear, kind of vinyl backpack as compared to the very durable cloth backpack, there’s a big difference in that,” Canady said.
Canady told us the backpacks are a catch 22.
“Things can still be concealed in there. You really have to take those extra steps to really make that a true safety initiative,” Canady stated.
Besides the bags, the Newport News school board also unanimously passed three new safety policies. One requires the superintendent to report to the school board parental referrals to the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court if a family fails to enforce student conduct or attendance. The second requires an administrator to report all student assaults on employees to local law enforcement. The third, directs the superintendent to call an emergency special meeting within 72 hours of a traumatic incident on school grounds.
