The sentiment was clear — the backpacks will not be.
Broward schools’ controversial decision to require clear backpacks has been quashed after more than 200 people packed a Monday night town hall, with almost all opposed to a plan to make them mandatory this fall.
Board members Lori Alhadeff, Debbi Hixon, Nora Rupert, Brenda Fam and Sarah Leonardi all announced at the town hall they don’t support them, while Jeff Holness and Allen Zeman joined the opposition during a meeting Tuesday.
The topic had been on the agenda for a June 20 workshop and a July 25 board meeting, but the board voted 5-4 to not even hold any more meetings. Those dissenting were clear-backpack supporters Torey Alston and Daniel Foganholi, as well as Hixon and Fam, who still wanted to continue hearing from the public despite their personal opposition to the mandate.
The board initially made the decision to require clear backpacks this fall in a secret closed-door session March 28.
“I send my two boys with a bulletproof backpack. Unfortunately, I wasn’t part of the closed-door meeting, because I am against having clear backpacks for students,” Alhadeff, whose daughter Alyssa was killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High in Parkland, said at the town hall.
Alhadeff was out of town during the secret meeting where most board members agreed to require see-through backpacks for the 2023-24 school year. The plan was announced publicly May 5 and led to a widespread backlash and efforts by parents to reject or delay it. Board members agreed to hold the town hall to hear the public’s feedback.
“You’re not here today to discuss safety. You’re here because you guys reached a decision behind closed doors,” one speaker said. “This is Florida. We need Sunshine.”
Audience members said clear backpacks are bad for the environment, are poorly made, offer a “false sense of security” and increase the risk of theft and bullying.
Some criticized the lack of uniform enforcement that was proposed. Most students would be required to have clear backpacks but employees and visitors wouldn’t. Students with sports and band equipment would also be exempt.
“I would like to say that I find it absurd that volunteers, visitors and staff are exempted. These policies are suggesting students are solely responsible for the shootings that occurred,” Plantation High student Carlos Lopez Jr. said.
Foganholi said he appreciated hearing from speakers but didn’t think they reflected all of Broward County.
“When we talked about this, we knew people were going to come against us, but we had to make a decision. We agreed to take a stand and hold our ground,” Foganholi said Tuesday. “But 150 comments in a district with 200,000 kids, 150 voices made you buckle.”
During the Monday meeting, district staff gave inconclusive data on security threats. They first said there had been an uptick of weapons over the past five years but then noted weapons offenses were low during the COVID-19 years due to low enrollment. Weapons spiked during 2021-22 but then fell sharply this past school year. There were about 113 weapons serious enough to be reported to the state this year as of late April, about half as many as last year.
District Police Chief Craig Kowalski credited the decrease to a random metal detection wanding program, prompting audience members to ask why that effort wasn’t expanded then.
There have been few studies that have shown clear backpacks decrease weapons and violence on campus and one frequently cited study concluded clear backpacks might increase violence because it signals to students they can’t be trusted.
“I came over to hear evidence for clear backpacks. Where is the compelling evidence? It wasn’t presented, because I don’t believe there is any,” parent Nicole Stanford said.
Audience members were also angry about the town hall rules the district set. Comments were limited to 30 seconds due to a larger number of speakers, and no one was allowed to bring bags into the forum. Some audience members started heckling Board member Nora Rupert when they saw her open a color-tinted bag on stage.
“Nora Rupert, you should not have a purse on that stage right now! That is wrong! ” shouted Kathleen Socolove, a parent who lives in Oakland Park, prompting boos and shouts from the audience.
It was one of several times moderator Eric Chisem asked the crowd to calm down. “This is an opportunity to voice your opinions and it is going very well, and we just want you to be able to do that,” Chisem said after Socolove’s comments.
Rupert addressed the crowd at the end of the meeting holding up her bag and explaining she has a medical condition that requires her to carry supplies and fluids. “I have to drink all the time because I get dehydrated,” she said.
Still facing boos, she spoke over the audience and proclaimed, “I am not for the backpacks because I have received bullying here tonight.”
She received thunderous applause.
