Deon Wright Jr. was not expecting to carry a clear backpack during his senior year at Richmond Community High School.
When it comes to addressing school safety issues, Wright, who will be attending Morehouse College in the fall, said, “Well I definitely don’t think it's the clear bookbag.”
The Richmond School Board unanimously voted last summer to implement the clear backpack policy. The goal was to create safer school environments by making it easier to visually inspect what students are bringing to school every day.
The clear backpacks were chosen as a way to “streamline the search process during morning arrival within secondary schools while deterring and identifying prohibited items, such as weapons, vape pens, narcotics, and other items that could pose a threat to educational environments across the division.”
“I don’t think they make me feel safer,” Wright said. “I don't think that everybody having clear bookbags has cured my anxiety.”
In addition to clear backpacks, Wright said his high school, located in Richmond’s Northside, underwent “uncomfortable changes.”
“We never had security, we never had metal detectors in Community. So that was a really big shift this year to dealing with that sort of thing for the first time,” Wright said. “In the larger sense, it makes you feel safer, but it also doesn't feel normal anymore.”
Wright said he understands the district’s safety concerns, but said wait times for the security checkpoint before heading into school are just as long as they were before the clear bag policy was implemented.
“Every morning, we come in and get bags checked, we go to metal detectors, we wait in long lines for it,” Wright said. “Why have us change what we're used to, switch over to something that's definitely faulty, a lesser version — and then we're still getting our bag checked regardless?”
In a May school board meeting, Chief Wellness Officer Renesha Parks acknowledged that RPS students and families have raised concerns about privacy, limited effectiveness, durability and sustainability of the policy given the potential cost of replacements.
“Of course there was some heartburn within some families. They talked about whether our bags were durable,” Parks said, adding that every student received a clear backpack from the division at the start of the year.
Wright, who played sports at Thomas Jefferson High School because Community does not offer on-site sports, said he saw inconsistencies with the district’s policy and confusion when it came to exceptions.
RPS has several exceptions to its clear-bag policy, including pouches for personal hygiene items, sport-specific carrying bags for athletic equipment, instrument-specific carrying cases for band equipment and cases for medical equipment.
“Yes there were some inconsistencies, but you have to weigh it against what we are facing,” Parks said during the May meeting. “A lot of our secondary students are chronically absent, and so we did not want that to be a barrier.”
Wright’s dad, Deon Wright Sr., said the backpack’s lack of durability was frustrating. The Wrights replaced their son’s bookbag twice during the school year, each time costing about $45.
“I don't know if they've figured out how to fully implement this with consistency,” Wright Sr. said, adding that allowing nontransparent bags like athletic duffle bags only makes him question if the district is accomplishing its safety goals. “It doesn't seem like it's a one-size-fits-all solution.”
Wright Sr. said he wants transparency from the district when it comes to the policy’s impact and shortcomings.
“How do we partner with somebody that builds a sturdier version of the clear backpack? How do we get to that, or how do we get the resources to have additional backpacks available to students who cannot afford to get a replacement backpack?” Wright said.
RPS had to purchase clear drawstring backpacks for secondary school students after running out of replacement bags. The district is working with community partners to address durability and quality challenges in preparation for the annual Ultimate Backpack drive in August.
RPS administration recommended that the policy remain in place for the 2025-2026 school year, as “clear backpacks have been beneficial in deterring students from bringing in prohibited items that are easily visible such as weapons and vape pens.”
Parks said in comparison to the 2022-2023 school year, the district is seeing a clear reduction in students bringing prohibited items to school.
VPM News requested a copy of the clear backpack policy data presented to school board members in a memo following the May 5 meeting; the district has not yet provided the data.
Wesley Hedgepeth, who represents the 4th District, told VPM News that the data show the district is moving in the right direction, with student infractions down across the district.
“Come January, we saw a decline in infractions, where the community had adjusted and had gotten used to the norms,” Hedgepeth said. “It's hopeful that we're seeing less and less infractions when it comes to our student population because of the clear backpack policy.”
When it comes to morning wait times, Hedgepeth says he’s “eager” to learn more about exactly how long the morning bag check process is taking in order to better understand the efficacy of the policy.
