HOWARD COUNTY, M.d. — This school year hasn’t been the easiest transition for some students and parents when it’s not just cellphones that aren’t allowed in the classroom.
WATCH: Students, parents dislike new backpack policy
Less than a month before the start of classes, parents of students at Bonnie Branch Middle School learned that backpacks would not be permitted in the classroom.
The school and five others within the Howard County Public School System, including Dunloggin, Mayfield Woods, Hammond, Glenwood and Folly Quarter all do not allow backpacks in class.
“I wasn’t too happy because I wasn’t sure how I was going to hold all of my stuff,” 8th grader Brendan Scanlon said.
The transition, hasn’t been so smooth. Scanlon says he almost broke his computer before getting a zipper binder to carry all of his supplies about a week after classes began.
According to the new policy students are allowed to have small purses or fanny packs and can to go to their lockers in-between classes, but they only have three minutes.
“It’s pretty difficult. it takes like half a minute to open your locker,” Scanlon said.
“And then you end up being late if your classes badly spaced from your locker,” 8th grader Jackson Visco said.
Some parents have raised concerns about the changes, including one who emailed principal Lisa Smithson in mid-August citing issues about forgotten items, and possible destruction of chrome books due to the laptops being carried by hand.
Smithson wrote back explaining the decision was due to safety concerns. Writing “after a lot of consideration, the overall consensus was that backpacks in the classroom have the tendency to create a safety issue. Our class sizes can go up to 33 students, can have anywhere from 1-4 adults in the room, and the inclusion of backpacks in the classrooms, present issues with clear walkways in classrooms.”
“You don't want teachers or support staff tripping over backpacks, you know, so push comes to shove something has to give,” Benjamin Schmitt, president of the Howard County Education Association says the new policies are a symptom of a bigger issue budgetary restrictions that have delayed renovations and caused overcrowding.
He notes that some on the list of middle schools that have changed their backpack policies, like Dunloggin, are overdue to for a rebuild.
“When we continue to … raise class sizes in a way to save money it's just going to compound and make things worse after a few years, and that's the point we're at, that pushing point,” Schmitt said.
In her email, Smithson also points out that backpacks can contain items that cause distractions and anticipates a decrease in hallway horseplay with students’ hands occupied. Smithson also writes that students still have “thoughtlessly throw them around” without thought about their devices and liquid damage has occurred while laptops have been stored in a book bag.
Last school year, there were 2,615 laptops that sustained damage from liquid, another 7,240 physical damages.
It’s unclear how many laptops may have been damaged at the start of this year.
The students WMAR-2 News spoke with as well as parents off the record wished for the policy to be reversed. School leadership plans to review if any changes are needed by late November.