Sandcreek Middle School reverts back to old policy of no backpacks

The new policy is the old policy. After allowing students to bring backpacks into the classroom for a few years, Sandcreek Middle School is reverting back to its previous policy of no backpacks during school. Students can still use a backpack to carry supplies to-and-from school. The change means that once at school, students must keep backpacks in their lockers, and will have to stop by their lockers to exchange books and binders in between classes.

“With as crowded as our school is, imagine 850 kids in the hallway and they all have a backpack on,” said Dr. Yvonne Thurber, the new principal at Sandcreek Middle School. “Kids get hit, teachers get hit when kids turn around quickly, and they (the students) carry everything with them.”

The policy is also meant to make things easier for teachers in the classroom. “I did a survey of the teachers the last few weeks of school and they really expressed concerns about the backpacks being in the classrooms, on the floor, and tripping over them, and not really having a place for them to be,” Dr. Thurber said. “It’s really a safety thing. It helps prevent things from going into the classroom that shouldn’t be in the classroom.”

Dr. Thurber said that while the no backpack policy will apply to a majority of students, they will make exceptions for special circumstances. “We have some special populations of student who struggle getting from one place to another, or a student that maybe has a disability that needs to have a special exception,” Dr. Thurber said. “We always look at those case by case, but overall the rule will be no backpacks.”

Dr. Thurber said any parent with concerns or questions about the policy is free to contact her at any time.