LOWER POTTSGROVE — While church groups and agencies hold school supply and backpack giveaways for the start of school, they won’t be much help to students at Pottsgrove High School.
That’s because the school has instituted a new policy banning the wearing of backpacks during the school day.
But students and parents are not taking the new policy lying down. They have launched a petition drive opposing the ban. As of Thursday, the petition on change.org had gathered 473 signatures.
“This rule will significantly impact students, especially when it comes to getting to class on time. Pottsgrove has already implemented several rules regarding bathroom use, including monitoring to ensure that no one brings a backpack into the bathroom. We believe that this new rule will not make a major difference, as there is already sufficient monitoring in place. Students should have the option to use their lockers, rather than being forced to do so,” the petition reads.
According to the letter sent home to students before the start of school, principal Felicia Gonzalez wrote that “though we understand that it may seem otherwise, we are making this change because we care greatly about your safety and well-being. We have experienced a number of issues with backpacks, especially vaping and theft.”
Students may “carry smaller bags, purses or Chromebook cases” when school is in session, according to the district’s letter. Backpacks can be brought to school, but must be kept in lockers, according to the policy as outlined in the district letter.
“Most courses use digital textbooks rather than physical textbooks, reducing the need for students to carry heavy textbooks. The small size of our school will provide enough time for students to visit their lockers in between classes,” the letter indicated.
But that is not the case, according to Addison Harman, a sophomore at the school. She told The Mercury that there is not enough time between classes to get to a locker if it is on the other side of the high school building and get back to the next class on time.
This was particularly true for her on Tuesday when it took her six times to get her locker open. “They’re very hard to open, I even asked some teachers for help and they couldn’t do it either,” she said.
Too many late arrivals to class will then land students in detention, Harman said.
She said banning the use of backpacks “to prevent vapes and weapons” makes no sense when those things can just as easily fit into the smaller bags the new policy allows students to carry during school.
Harman’s father, Nick, said the same thing when he spoke to the school board about the problems related to the ban during the Aug. 12 meeting and presented two bags: A bag that is allowed and a backpack that is not.
“A vape is the size of a lighter, so as you can clearly see, it easily fits into either one of these bags,” he observed. “Being a numbers guy,” he continued, I did not see anything in the notes, any data, that was presented that showed the number of vaping incidents at the high school or indicating theft incidents at the high school. I saw no clear presentation of how you will measure success of this program,” he said.
Superintendent David Finnerty offered to speak to Harman after the meeting.
“The superintendent told my dad the reason (for the backpack ban) has to do with security, but he could not tell us specifically what,” Addison Harman told The Mercury.
In addition to signatures, the change.org petition also includes comments from those affected.
“I am Blaze Hevalow. As an autistic person, I carry my bag around due to the security. I never know exactly what I’ll need for a class. I require stuff in emergencies, like feminine products or God forbid my phone,” one student wrote. “This rule is actively harming students. As well, I’m a person who can have panic attacks if I even think I’ll be late for classes. If this rule is instated, this ensures me and possibly others like me have daily panics. Pottsgrove has never been one to care. Care for once.”
Gonzalez wrote in her letter home that “we anticipate exceptions based upon medical conditions, injury, or other special circumstances. Requests for exceptions should be made by parents/guardians to the main office.”
“Implementing this policy is just pushing that narrative and proving to students that Pottsgrove does not strive to help them. Lockers are scattered all across the school and classes stretch onto different floors and across the school,” one student who did not give a name commented on the petition. “Imagine having a locker back in the science wing and needing to get things for gym. We have 4ish minutes to get to and from class and that is simply not enough time considering now we have to go to lockers, fight hallways, and possibly get halfway across the school. Students are also expected to carry piles of heavy textbooks, Chromebooks, notebooks, etc., to and from classes in those busy hallways unless they want to risk being late and make a locker trip.”
“The locker rule did not help anyone last year at the middle school; it only made getting to classes way harder for everyone. It’s way easier for us to just carry the backpacks around and way more convenient for everyone getting to their classes on time,” a student named Sage wrote on the petition
John commented in the petition, “Lockers are inconvenient to the average student, and backpacks allow us to carry everything we need instead of constantly going back and forth to our lockers.”
