High school students in the Huron Valley School District will be required to leave their backpacks in their lockers in the upcoming.
According to a notice on the district’s website, the policy is being implemented to “avoid hazards in classrooms and hallways and ultimately keep our schools safe.”
The new policy follows the shooting incident last December at Oxford Community High School in which a student killed four of his classmates with a gun he kept hidden in his backpack.
The notice says that principals will review the new policy with students at the beginning of the school year.
District officials say they recognize that students may have small personal items they need to carry from classroom to classroom. Therefore, a small purse or satchel will be acceptable to have on their person, as long as it is small enough not to affect a classroom’s accessibility.
The notice also states that at the elementary and middle school levels, students will be permitted to bring their backpacks to school and use their lockers as normal.