Clayton County students are required to bring clear backpacks to school. (Photo by Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. - When Clayton County students return to the classroom in August, they'll have to keep wearing clear backpacks.
The school district decided to continue its backpack policy for the 2025-2026 school year.
The backstory:
In 2022, the district banned all backpacks through the end of the school year for safety reasons.
Then-Clayton County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Morcease Beasley said the change is in response to an increase in the number of weapons found at schools. Students were also not allowed to use lockers.
The next school year, the school district made clear bookbags mandatory, but supply chain issues led to a delay in implementation.
What we know:
In a message to parents, the school district said that the requirement will be in place for Pre-Kindergarten through 12th grade.
The district will not provide bookbags to all students, so parents or guardians should purchase the bags before the school year starts.
Other districts in metro Atlanta have different policies regarding the bags. Fulton County allows individual schools to set their own policies.
Earlier this year, Gwinnett County Schools announced that they would not move forward with a clear bag policy for students after officials said a recent pilot program failed to ease safety concerns.
The Source: Information for this report came from a release by Clayton County Public Schools and previous FOX 5 reporting.