Students will be banned from using backpacks for the rest of the school year in Clayton County Public Schools. | Jeremy Miller/Unsplash
Students will be banned from using backpacks for the rest of the school year in Clayton County Public Schools. | Jeremy Miller/Unsplash
A ban on backpacks at middle and high schools in Clayton County will be in effect through the end of the school year, Clayton County Schools Superintendent Dr. Morcease Beasley announced this week.
According to an April 27 report by FOX 5 Atlanta, Beasley reasons that the new policy is necessary in direct response to the growing number of weapons found on school grounds.
"I want to be very clear, I am not trying to make all of you happy," Beasley said according to FOX 5 Atlanta. "I would be considered insane if I thought I could make all of you happy. The board of education is very clear with me as their superintendent — their one employee — that they expect me to address this, and they expect us to do whatever we can to make schools safe."
As part of the crackdown, FOX 5 Atlanta reports, students also will be prohibited from using their lockers, and schools across the district will begin adding or updating metal detectors on campus as well as instituting random searches of students.
Additionally, metal detectors will be present at graduation and the Fulton County School System will prohibit backpacks on a school-by-school basis, according to the article.
The newly enacted policy comes just two months after a gun was fired at Jonesboro High School, forcing the school into a lockdown that lasted for several hours and required a police response before order was restored.
Alerts Sign-up