An announcement from Mesquite Independent School District informed district students and their parents that a new backpack policy will be in effect next school term.
The new policy will require students (grades K-12) to use clear bags in the 2023-2024 school year, which the district said will enhance safety.
Students will be barred from carrying any bag — including purses, totes, and backpacks — that is not see-through, with the exception of small personal item containers for hygiene products and money.
The district also announced that they would provide one clear backpack to students free of charge upon request.
Several school districts in Texas have adopted clear bag policies after 21 students and teachers were killed in the Uvalde Robb Elementary shooting.
For instance, Dallas ISD tested a clear backpack policy last year among secondary students and recently announced it would be extended to all students next school term, as The Dallas Express reported.
While clear bag policies have been designed and implemented to enhance campus safety, as The Dallas Express reported, opinions on the clear bag policy among education experts are mixed.
Some, like Paige Duggins-Clay, a chief legal analyst from the nonprofit Intercultural Development Research Association, have argued that it might breed further distrust between officials and students.
Others like Michael Dorn, executive director of Safe Haven International, questioned the measure’s effectiveness by pointing out that a student could still stash a gun on their person or in a textbook.
Furthermore, a study in the Journal of School Violence suggested that while bags make students and staff feel safer, they have no statistical impact on violence.
Mesquite ISD will add the clear bag policy to its existing safety protocols, including requiring students in grades 6-12 to show ID at school events and disallowing backpacks at school events altogether.
In preparation for the rollout of the new bag policy, district officials said that elementary school students can pick up a free bag during school supply drop-off night on August 3.
Meanwhile, middle and high school students will be able to pick one up on their first day of school. No clear bags will be available at Mesquite ISD’s annual back-to-school fair, according to the announcement.