Clayton County again requiring clear backpacks for school year

A 2022 investigation by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution found that close to 100 weapons were brought to Clayton school campuses or on its buses since the start of that school year. They included an AR-15 rifle, handguns, brass knuckles, knives, BB guns, stun guns and Tasers.

By requiring the clear backpacks, school officials hoped to deter students from bringing weapons to school.

Gwinnett County Public Schools tested the policy early this year, launching a pilot program from January to early February. It opted not to institute the policy for the upcoming school year, saying that “while clear backpacks added some visibility and a sense of safety for some, using clear backpacks did not significantly positively impact overall safety concerns.” The district said it was considering other safety measures such as weapons detectors.

Previously, Clayton County provided the bags for each of its more than 50,000 students at a cost of $1.1 million. This year, the district will not be supplying the bookbags, saying that parents and guardians are required to purchase them for their students.

While designs are permitted on the bags, the designs cannot “completely obscure visibility into the bag,” the school district said. And although lunch bags do not have to be clear, they are subject to search at any time. Student-athletes who carry duffel bags to school must turn them over to a coach who will store them “until the bags are needed for the activity.”