Flint, MI School District prohibits backpacks due to numerous violent threats.

Flint School District Bans Backpacks for Safety Reasons

Students in the Flint, Michigan, school district will have to leave their backpacks at home for the rest of the year. The Flint Board of Education voted unanimously last week to ban backpacks after two separate safety incidents occurred at Southwestern Classical Academy in Flint, prompting officials to close schools in the area. The policy went into effect on Monday.

What’s Allowed and What’s Not

According to a letter from Superintendent Kevelin Jones to parents, students are not allowed to carry backpacks into school buildings. However, small purses carrying personal items, clear plastic bags with gym clothes, and lunchboxes are allowed within reason. These bags will still be subject to search. If a student brings a backpack to school, the office will not keep the student’s belongings. Instead, he or she will be sent to the school office, and a parent or guardian will pick up the student’s belongings. Athletes will also have to drop off their equipment at the front office every day.

Why the Ban?

“Backpacks make it easier for students to hide weapons, which can be disassembled and harder to identify or hidden in pockets, inside books or under other items. Clear backpacks do not completely fix this issue. By banning backpacks altogether and adding an increased security presence across the district, we can better control what is being brought into our buildings,” Jones wrote in the letter.

The decision was motivated in part by two separate incidents that prompted schools to close; both incidents happened at Southwestern Classical Academy. First, in December 2021, a student at the school was riding a school bus when she recorded a “rap-style” video threatening to commit a school shooting “like Oxford,” a reference to the 2021 school shooting in nearby Oakland County. The school closed in response. Then in April, the school closed due to another threat.

What the Superintendent Says

“School safety remains an important topic for districts across the country, including here in Flint,” Jones wrote in the letter. “As a district, we are taking a 360-degree approach to create safe spaces for children’s academic journeys. To that end, we have reached a point where we must make difficult decisions and ask our school community to demonstrate flexibility, understanding and a shared sense of urgency when it comes to safety.”

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