CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools has finally confirmed clear backpacks will not go to high school students this school year, with only one week left in the school year.
This comes after months of silence on the backpacks -- which cost the district nearly $500,000 -- didn’t go out as planned in March.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: CMS postponing use of clear backpacks, source confirms
The backpacks were supposed to be one of many tools to curb violence in CMS schools.
When the plan to deploy clear backpacks in CMS high schools was first announced, the community backlash was swift.
As WCNC Charlotte’s Shamarria Morrison found, internal emails dating back to December show parents, students, teachers and at least one board member were against the idea.
"I would like to express my concern over clear bookbags and metal detectors. I wonder if this will be a lot of hassle and money spent with not much return on investment. Even with a clear bookbag, a student can find other ways to hide weapons," one parent wrote to former superintendent Earnest Winston.
The parent, also a CMS staff member, expressed concerns over schools feeling like a 'prison environment' with clear backpacks and body scanners.
Another parent wrote CMS Board Member Sean Strain about the same concerns regarding clear backpacks.
"We don’t live in a police state, so I’m opposed to the school taking away our children’s privacy by forcing them to use clear bookbags. There was all sorts of stuff I wanted hidden in my bookbag – none of which was dangerous to anyone," the parent wrote in an email.
Strain, a vocal critic of Winston, wrote back to the parent and included Winston and all board members in his response.
"I don’t believe clear backpacks are a significant advance in the fight against in-school violence, and bear the risk of substantial downside. I believe them to be impractical and more of a statement to say “look, we’ve done something” than actually addressing the underlying issues of student behavior and conduct. All of that said, there are principals, a Superintendent, and Board members that believe them to be at least part of the answer," Strain said in the email.
At-large Board Member Jennifer De La Jara forwarded Winston a message from a parent that read in part, "The backpack isn't really anything more than a very small band-aide over a much larger systemic open wound."
The backpacks ultimately went out in late March. Then hours later, the district took them back from students.
“Some people say they're not going to wear them when they do come in because there's really no point it's downsizing from your bookbag now," said Hopewell High School student Zauryn Moore said when she heard the news in March.
Hopewell was one of two schools set to pilot the clear backpacks.
It was revealed after the backpacks spent more than a month in a warehouse, the district missed a warning tag on some backpacks about possible harmful material.
Some bags contained a Proposition 65 tag. The tag requires businesses to provide warnings to people in Californian about significant exposures to chemicals that can cause cancer, birth defects, or other reproductive harm.
This tag can be found on hundreds of commonly used household items used every day.
It is only required in California by state law.
Prior to the news going out about the backpacks being stalled, Winston sent several messages to the district's communication team on a plan to distribute the news to the public.
The district shared the news first with board members, asking them not to share it with anyone else until CMS families were notified.
Next in line were the district's cabinet members and executive team. The message was then sent to the principals, staff members, families, and media.
Winston noted in his email to the communications team the message was not to be posted on social media. When backpacks were first given to students they shared a number of videos.
Once word started to spread about the backpacks being delayed board members spoke amongst themselves in an email about possible leaks to the media.
While asking the superintendent about following up with the bag vendor De La Jare wrote to her colleagues, "A reporter reached out to me and had a copy of the below message that was addressed to the Board. I hope whoever you are will also follow up with reporters once you have critical questions answered like the ones above. The public deserves to know more, of course, and not jump to conclusions without knowledge."
Board member Rhonda Cheek responded in part, "You can check my sent Mail to confirm I have committed no malfeasance in this regard."
De La Jara told Cheek there was no need for her to check her emails because "everyone knows you are the first one to leak out to the media Rhonda."
Also included in De La Jara's message was a reminder for board members to follow the process.
"Staff asked that we wait to share until it had gone through the proper channels to staff, families, and then media. It’s that simple," De La Jara said.
In one of his last interviews before being fired, Winston claimed the district was doing its own due diligence to make sure the bags were safe.
He provided no clarity on what this meant.
"We are talking to the vendor and the manufacturer to make sure that we erase all doubts with regard to the safety of the backpacks," Winston said a week before he was fired.
A few weeks later, the appointed interim superintendent didn’t have much else to add.
“At this point, they’re on hold and we’re on serious discussions on how we’re going to take care of that," CMS Interim Superintendent Hugh Hattabaugh said.
The district went weeks without answering questions from WCNC Charlotte about the status of the clear backpacks. Then, during the last week of school, the district finally confirmed what many assumed at this point: The backpacks are not coming out this school year.
WCNC Charlotte is waiting on an update on where the backpacks are currently being stored and if they have been returned.
Contact Shamarria Morrison at smorrison@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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