Dallas ISD parents unclear on why clear backpacks are needed for pre-K and elementary students

By Lena Foster

Dallas ISD is requiring all students, including preschoolers as young as 3-year-olds, to carry a clear backpack as part of the district’s “ongoing effort to ensure safer schools.”

Last year, the district required middle and high school students to carry clear backpacks. Early this summer, DISD announced this policy would expand to all grades. Mesh backpacks are acceptable, according to the district’s press release, but clear backpacks are preferred. Students also are allowed to carry a small non-clear pouch for personal items.

“A clear backpack policy alone does not ensure complete security,” the district acknowledges in its announcement. “This proactive measure is just one of several updates to enhance student and campus safety.”

Dallas ISD rolled out the clear backpack policy at the beginning of the 2022-23 school year, based on recommendations from the district’s two safety task forces, made up of principals, teachers, security professionals, parents, students and community members. Parents can purchase backpacks for their children, but the district plans to distribute what they describe as “a durable clear backpack” free of charge.

Dallas Free Press texted our South Dallas and West Dallas readers about their experiences with clear backpacks. Several parents complained about the poor quality of the bags the district provided last year, saying they had to replace them multiple times during the school year.

South Dallas parent Carneshia Oliver has three children who W.E. Greiner Exploratory Arts Academy and Charles Rice Learning Center. Oliver supports having see-through bags to ensure nothing harmful enters the school. However, she, like many other parents, was unhappy about the quality of the backpacks.

“The materials are pretty cheap,” she says. “So, it’s expensive to have to keep buying them over and over again.”

Salina McGee-Jones agrees. Her daughter was an eighth grader at Greiner last year, and McGee-Jones says she had to replace her daughter’s bag three times during the school year.

“The straps kept breaking and the clear plastic was tearing from the bottom,” McGee-Jones says. “The ones they issued to the students from the school are not reliable.”

We reached out to Dallas ISD with these concerns.

“We did receive feedback and have purchased a much more durable bag this year with heavy duty clear material, extra strength stitching, double padded adjustable straps and high-quality zipper pulls,” district spokesperson Nina Lakhiani said in an email.

Though Superintendent Stephanie Elizalde briefed the nine elected Dallas ISD trustees on new security measures in summer 2022, the trustees did not vote on the policy. Their only vote regarding clear backpacks was a $5 million budget increase to pay for the backpacks. Lakhiani says the district spent $1.3 million last year on backpacks for students.

Some parents find the “investment” in clear backpacks unnecessary. They would prefer to see the money spent in other ways.

“I understand the premise behind it,” says LaDerica McNairy, whose son also attends Greiner, “but I think that it would be better to have other additional resources at the school, like emotional regulation, training or conflict-resolution training.”

“Cause if you look at it, clear bags didn’t just start. I had to have a mesh backpack in high school myself,” says McNairy, a Justin F. Kimball High School alumnus, “and that was like 15 years ago.”

McNairy’s son had to go through bag checks and metal detectors at Greiner both before and after the clear bag policy, which led McNairy to question the policy’s relevance, especially considering the expense of clear backpacks.

“So, there’s tons of security measures. But if you’re gonna go through all of this anyway, then what’s the point of a clear backpack if you have to search my backpack physically, anyway?” McNairy asks.

DISD’s Lakhiani says last year’s policy of transparent bags “allowed for easy inspection of contents and reduced the potential of prohibited items entering a school.” She also mentioned that the process of entering school became more efficient.

McNairy also wants to know why the focus is on students as potential threats instead of people coming onto campus who are not students or faculty.

“It doesn’t address the fact that the students are not necessarily the ones who are enacting these acts of violence,” McNairy says.

March For Our Lives is a national grassroots advocacy organization founded by students that works to end gun violence in schools. Saanvi Mukkara serves as president of the Greater Dallas chapter and leads students in meeting with community and City Council members, fundraising for various efforts, and holding rallies and demonstrations to mobilize citizens.

Mukkara recognizes the level of comfort that the clear bag policy provides for the community, but she describes clear backpacks as “performative security measures.”

“It will do little to nothing for the movement at hand and actually ensure community stability,” Mukkara told us via email. “We need to look for solutions that are long-lasting and impactful: like comprehensive background checks, better safe storage knowledge, security, and enforcement, limiting access to weapons of war, and overall, simply holding our policymakers accountable so they can serve the needs of their citizens.”

The clear backpack policy was introduced in Dallas ISD schools shortly after Texas public schools’ deadliest mass shooting that took place at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, where, on May 24, 2022, an 18-year-old killed 19 children and two teachers. Schools throughout Texas responded with increased safety measures — everything from installing bullet-resistant film in doors and entryways to more cameras and consistent door checks to regular police patrols at middle and high schools.

A DISD superintendent report from August 2022 prioritized annual safety checks and inspections, random campus visits, metal detector installations in multi-level schools, 100 hand-held metal detectors in elementary schools, campus staff training, iPads for monitoring high schools and active shooter training with Dallas Police Department. We are waiting for a response from Dallas ISD to see how many of these safety protocols have been implemented.

As McNairy points out, it’s nothing new for school officials to respond to the threat of gun violence with clear backpacks. A 2019 Bloomberg piece explores the history of school shootings and clear backpacks since the 1998 Columbine tragedy, with no decisive data or conclusion of whether they keep students safer.

A 2022 Austin American-Statesman piece also notes that such policies are “largely driven by emotion rather than evidence.” Right after a Dallas safety task force with parents and community members recommended clear backpacks; Austin decided against them because “parents didn’t think they were necessary.”

“It also boils down to the fact that clear bags are a half-hearted attempt to avoid looking at the true issue at hand: gun access,” Mukkara wrote.

Some clear backpack and school supply giveaways will be happening for DISD students including:

The MLK Back to School Festival: The event will take place on Saturday, August 12 starting at 9 a.m. in the MLK, Jr. Recreation Center. They are currently accepting donations up until August 4 to be able to stuff 1,000 clear bags with supplies. Supplies will be distributed on a first come first serve basis for students Pre-K to 12th grade.

The 27th Annual Dallas Mayor’s Back to School Fair: As courtesy of the city of Dallas’ Office of Environmental Quality and Sustainability, clear bags will also be given away on August 4 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Automobile Building and Centennial Hall at Fair Park. Families would need to register at the event website, and qualifying students would need to live in Dallas or attend a Dallas ISD school, according to the announcement. Qualifying families, who have children attending other schools, must provide proof of Dallas residency and verification of their household income, which would need to be equal to or less than the 2023 Federal Poverty Guidelines.

Theta Alpha Chapter’s Annual School Supply Giveaway: Organizations such as the Theta Alpha Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.will be hosting a backpack and school giveaway at the Theta Alpha Foundation House on August 5 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The event will consist of free food, free haircuts, music and free school supplies.

Come this fall, all Dallas ISD students will be required to carry a clear backpack for the upcoming 2023-24 school year.

Last year, middle and high school students were required to carry clear backpacks.

As an effort to push for a safer school experience, the district decided to implement the clear bag policy for another school year for students within the district. Mesh backpacks are acceptable according to the school district, but clear backpacks are preferred.

Students are also allowed to carry a small non-clear pouch for personal items.

Parents can purchase backpacks for their children, but the district intends to distribute what they described as “a durable clear backpack” free of charge.

According to a statement from the school district, “A clear backpack policy alone does not ensure complete security. This proactive measure is just one of several updates to enhance student and campus safety.”

The same policy was put into effect for the 2022-23 school for DISD based on the concerns expressed by the district’s Safety Task Force and Internal Task Force and others in the community including parents and students. Students had to carry clear backpacks, with mesh bags being an acceptable choice, with a non-clear pouch no larger than 5.5 inches by 8.5 items, such as cellphones, money and hygiene products.

Although some parents understand the policy’s purpose and accept it, they have discovered some difficulties with the quality of the backpacks from the first introduction of the policy at schools.

Carneshia Oliver has three children who are attending schools in the DISD. Oliver acknowledged the need for the policy and being able to see in the bags and make sure nothing harmful was entering the school, however, the material of the bags was a major issue.

“The materials are pretty cheap. So, it’s expensive to have to keep buying them over and over again,” Oliver said.

Other parents have expressed their experiences with dealing with the undependable clear bags that were administered to students.

Salina McGee-Jones’ daughter attended W.E. Greiner Exploratory Arts Academy during her eighth grade year and during the time of the clear bag policy she experienced some quality-related issues with the bag that was given to her by her school. According to McGee-Jones, she had to replace her daughter’s bag three times during the school year because of the bookbag’s inability to withstand.

“The straps kept breaking and the clear plastic was tearing from the bottom, you know, so the ones they issued to the students from the school are not reliable enough,” McGee-Jones said.

Some parents find the policy unnecessary and see some of these security measures having already been enforced in schools for years.

LaDerica McNairy has a son who attends a school within the DISD and has not only seen security already taken place before the implementation of the clear bag policy for her son, but also for herself in school.

“I understand the premise behind it, but I think that it would be better to have other additional resources at the school, like emotional regulation, training, or conflict-resolution training,” McNairy said. “Because if you look at it, clear bags didn’t just start. I had to have a mesh back in high school myself, and that was like 15 years ago.”

McNairy’s son had to go through bag checks and metal detectors already at his school, which led McNairy to question the relevance of the clear bag policy.

“So there’s tons of security measures. But if you’re gonna go through all of this anyway, then what’s the point of a clear backpack if you have to search my backpack physically, anyway?” McNairy said.

McNairy also expressed her concern with focusing on the students as a potential threat rather than other people who are not students or faculty who are coming onto campus.

“It doesn’t address the fact that the students are not necessarily the ones who are enacting these acts of violence,” McNairy said.

The policy was introduced to the school district shortly after Texas public schools’ deadliest mass shooting that took place at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, where, on May 24, 2022, an 18-year-old killed 19 children and two teachers. As a result, schools throughout Texas had taken their own safety measures and made decisions pertaining to further action.

A Superintendent

The Austin school district decided upon some safety precautions including regulatory patrolling on high, middle and elementary school properties along with installing bullet-resistant film in their doors and entryways. Other districts such as Del Valle school district also implemented the clear bag policy along with consistent door checks to ensure proper lockage. Other schools in districts such as Hays County had brought in cameras, fencing and extra police presence.

Students attending schools in the Dallas Independent School District, the second largest school district in Texas, will be required to carry a clear backpack for the upcoming 2023-24 school year, a policy that was enforced during the 2022-23 school year.

Students are also allowed to carry a small non-clear pouch for personal items.

Parents can purchase backpacks for their children, but the district intends to distribute what they described as “a durable clear backpack” free of charge.

According to the school district, “A clear backpack policy alone does not ensure complete security. This proactive measure is just one of several updates to enhance student and campus safety.”