(4/25) The Fairfield Area School District (FASD) may be evaluating an issue regarding the prohibition of students carrying backpacks into their classroom during a pandemic.
FASD senior Colby Redding, who serves as the student representative to the school board, addressed student concerns during the April 12 school board meeting regarding a renewed prohibition on allowing students to carry their backpacks into their classrooms.
Redding pointed out the secondary school was allowed to take their backpacks to class in lieu of using lockers while the school was using a hybrid schedule (a mix of in-person and virtual education). When the school returned to solely in-person classes, the prohibition of taking backpacks into the classroom was reinstated.
"It’s a small thing, but it’s just kind of frustrating for a student. Before we went to a full-day schedule, when we were on hybrid, we were told to bring our backpacks with us to and from class, instead of using our lockers," Redding stated.
The student representative further noted that being able to carry all of each day’s schoolbooks and notebooks in the backpacks "actually worked a lot better (than using the lockers)," adding. "Students were not late. There was no ‘I forgot something in my locker.’ Hallway time was nearly cut-in-half, if not more. Now that we’re back five days a week we’re told we have to use our lockers."
He said that he and other students were having trouble with understanding the reason for that, and that students have to go to their lockers multiple times a day, and squeeze in between other students in order to get what they need for the next class, noting that, "Students are in the hallways a long longer now, mingling and not social-distancing – because it’s practically impossible."
District Superintendent Michael Adamek said most schools require students to use lockers rather than carrying backpacks to class for a number of reasons, including that they might carry prohibited items within their backpacks, "not saying any of our kids are bringing anything (prohibitive) in, but (the prohibition was reinstated) just as a possibility of what anybody would bring in and keep in a backpack."
The general consensus of the board seemed to be that the backpack prohibition needed to be re-evaluated with respect to the concerns that contraband could be carried within a backpack versus the potential COVID-related health threat that may be posed by the lack of social-distancing in the halls and at the lockers.
However, the discussions regarding backpack-usage were diverting into a discussion about quarantines - without the board providing any direction to the staff regarding the backpack issue.
