CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools placed thousands of clear backpacks it purchased last school year for auction this week after concerns were raised about a Proposition 65 warning label.
The starting bid for the backpacks, which were purchased for nearly $500,000, is $50,000 on govdeals.com. The auction listing says it contains approximately 45,980 clear backpacks.
CMS announced in March that it would "indefinitely" postpone the rollout of the new backpacks, which were purchased as a measure to prevent weapons from getting on school campuses. By mid-June, the district confirmed the backpacks were approved for among a number of items approved by the board of education to go to auction.
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 auction listing states the manufacturer of the backpacks, A D Sutton said the Proposition 65 warning applies only to California and does not affect the other 49 states.
CMS invested nearly $500,000 into clear backpacks in response to rising violence across the district. Former Superintendent Earnest Winston said in January the backpacks would become the standard at CMS to help keep weapons off campuses.
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