CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools is "indefinitely" postponing the rollout of clear backpacks at pilot schools, a source confirmed to WCNC Charlotte's Jesse Pierre Monday afternoon.
Students at the predetermined pilot schools were supposed to be required to wear clear backpacks starting Tuesday.
CMS invested nearly $500,000 into clear backpacks in response to rising violence across the district. Superintendent Earnest Winston said in January the backpacks would become the standard at CMS to help keep weapons off campuses.
A message to board members about the postponement was obtained by WCNC Charlotte. It reads:
Board members
Please find the message below that will go out in the regular cascade after you receive it. Cabinet/Exec, Principals, Staff and families. We request you give us time to distribute the message fully to CMS families and students’ before sharing. Thank you
In unloading clear backpacks for distribution at the two pilot schools, we discovered most backpacks contained a warning tag required by Proposition 65 for California residents. We immediately paused the rollout of this safety measure when it was revealed the majority of the inventory had the tag.
In an abundance of caution, we will not proceed with clear backpack distribution until this matter is resolved. We are contacting the manufacturer and proceeding with reclaiming any backpacks that were provided to students in advance of school distribution.
We continue to make informed decisions for the safety and well-being of CMS students.
This week, we will complete the installation of and training for the Evolv security scanners at all seven Phase I high schools. Our plans are focused on layers of actions and initiatives to protect our students and staff, including the ongoing community safety conversations, hiring of additional campus security associates and the launch of the anonymous Say Something system."
CMS Board members said they found out about the halt of distributing clear backpacks from Winston around the same time the public did.
"I responded with a couple of basic questions to understand how we're going to engage with the vendor to get to those answers," Jennifer De La Jara, CMS At-Large Board Member, said. "And he did say that he would get back to the board and to the public really on what those answers are. I've not received that communication as of yet."
De La Jara said she expects more answers about the next steps when the superintendent gets them.
Proposition 65 is a measure California passed in 1986 to get companies to replace toxic chemicals with safer ones. Under the law, businesses have to show warnings if their products have chemicals that can cause cancer, birth defects or other reproductive problems.
The California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment lists specific chemicals that would require a warning -- there are more than a thousand. At this time, it's not clear which ones are in the clear backpacks.
Allan Hirsh with the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard said the warnings are not meant to alarm people.
“The warnings don't necessarily mean that the product is unsafe to use," Hirsh said. "It's just a tool that Californians can use in making decisions as to which products they would like to buy.
Many are found on many common-day used items and at businesses.
"You often see them on products in hardware stores, glues, paints, that kind of thing," Hirsh said. "They're even in some cases are on foods. Balsamic vinegar is one that commonly has prop 65 warnings.”
Don’t be surprised if you find the label on items outside of California.
“Many manufacturers, because they market products nationally, they put the Prop 65 warning on all of their products because it's hard for them to separate the products they sell in California from the other 49 states," Hirsh said.
He added that the law does serve as an incentive for businesses to create cleaner products.
“There have been a number of instances where manufacturers have reformulated their products and have actually removed toxic chemicals from their products," Hirsh said.
EDITOR'S NOTE: A video previously embedded within this article incorrectly reported that the backpacks in question were manufactured by Eastsport. There were two companies that provided the backpacks to CMS. Eastsport said the backpacks they make meet all requirements under the law and do not have any Prop 65 warning labels. Whenever we report on a story we want to make sure that our reporting is fair and accurate, and if we make a mistake WCNC charlotte will always be sure to inform our viewers.
Through receipts, WCNC Charlotte has learned that Eastsport is one of the manufacturers who makes the bags. The district ordered 6,000 Eastsport Clear PVC Backpacks. The manufacturer told WCNC Charlotte the backpack listed in the order does not have and does not need the Prop 65 warning label.
The district also purchased 40,000 AD Sutton clear backpacks. WCNC Charlotte reached out to the company about the warning label and has not heard back yet.
Board members say CMS is communicating with the bag manufacturers on the next steps.
"So right now we're just kind of in that space, where we're looking at what happened, what they need to do going forward, and making sure that we'll be able to do what we need to do, especially if it's going to be a funding situation," said Board Member Lenora Shipp.
WCNC Charlotte reached out to the superintendent for an interview, though district leaders said he wasn't available.
Data obtained by WCNC Charlotte revealed CMS started randomly searching students for weapons at the beginning of the 2021-22 school year, but district records show those safety screenings have failed to find any guns. Winston previously said the CMS safety plan includes body scanners and additional security guards in schools in addition to the backpacks.
Monday was a teacher workday for CMS. The first batch of clear backpacks was supposed to be distributed Tuesday at the iMeck Academy magnet school in east Charlotte. Hopewell High School in northwest Charlotte had also been selected for the clear backpack program.
Winston said the district was in the process of purchasing body scanners that will be implemented in seven schools in the first phase. Those schools include Hopewell, Mallard Creek, Garinger, Harding, North Meck, West Charlotte, and Julius Chambers high schools.
In January 2022, CMS launched the Say Something Anonymous Reporting System allowing middle and high school students to report concerns anonymously when they hear or see something at their school.
EDITOR'S NOTE: A previous version of this article reported CMS invested nearly $500,000 of the COVID-19 funding it received into the clear backpacks, but it did not come from those funds.
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