Green Bay Area Public School District building. (IMAGE: Courtesy of Fox 11 WLUK)
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Parents of Green Bay Area Public School District students in 6th-12th grades have until Sept. 22 to get clear backpacks to follow a new policy that is being implemented after a handgun was found in a Preble High School student’s backpack earlier this week.
At Green Bay West High School, students aren’t impressed with the district’s new policy requiring clear backpacks.
“If we wear clear backpacks, you’ll be able to see everybody’s business and I don’t think that’s really good for anything,” said Jaylynn Coleman, a Green Bay West sophomore.
“I think it will definitely make people feel safer, but it’s just going to make some students feel uncomfortable with the clear backpacks sometimes,” said Brian Ward, a sophomore at West High.
While safety is the goal, privacy is a cost– and that is in addition to the literal price of buying a clear backpack.
“Backpacks in general are very expensive,” said Coleman. “What happens to the families that can’t really spend that much money on that?”
However, several social media posts have been circulating of people willing to pay for clear backpacks for those who can’t afford it.
For example, Rachel Maes has collected more than $1,200 in donations from 25 people to buy and distribute backpacks.
“There are families in the district that just bought school supplies, just went back to school shopping, that now would probably not be an ideal time to go out and buy multiple backpacks for their kids,” said Maes, a parent of three students in the district. “It’s exciting to see neighbors helping neighbors.”
The district says anyone concerned about paying for a new backpack should contact student services at their child’s school. It plans to make sure each student gets one.
If you want to buy a clear backpack for your own children, a quick online search shows plenty of different kinds. Amazon has a selection mostly ranging between $10 and $25.
In person is a different story.
At Target on Green Bay’s west side, there were only two clear backpacks — $25 apiece. A store employee said the store was basically cleared out of them after news of Green Bay’s new policy.
Walmart has 27 clear backpacks big enough to hold books and folders. They came in a variety of colors and were priced from about $12 to $17.
“As soon as we learned about the district’s new policy, we have been working to get the clear backpacks in our stores so we can serve the needs of our community,” Walmart said in a statement.
The store director of Meijer in Howard also said the store is working to get clear backpacks to meet demand.
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