Officials crack down on bags at Pea Ridge
Posted on Thursday, February 1, 2007
PEA RIDGE - Only clear or mesh purses, gym bags or backpacks will be allowed at Pea Ridge High School, according to Principal Rick Neal, who said excessive text messaging and cell-phone use by students prompted the action.
Asked Monday about his statements to Pea Ridge High School students assembled prior to a National Honor Society-sponsored event Friday, Neal said school policy and state law require all backpacks to be made of mesh or clear material.
"This deals with school safety. There is a state law on the books," he said.
On Monday, when asked if the policy is state law, Neal asserted that the policy is under the school-violence law. He later admitted he may have misstated the backpack issue as a state law.
Neal told the assembled students that starting Monday, no purses, gym bags or backpacks that are not clear or mesh would be allowed.
"It's not my policy. It's state law," Neal said. "If you bring them, … they'll be confiscated. "He noted that athletes will be allowed to take gym bags to the locker rooms at 8: 05 a.m.
While Neal said the policy is an Arkansas law, no such law exists, said Arkansas Department of Education communications director Julie Thompson, who said any policies governing the material of backpacks are local.
Superintendent Mike Van Dyke supports Neal, saying providing a safe environment for students is essential.
Several parents of highschool students complained about the policy and asked about personal-hygiene products for their daughters. When asked, Neal said such items may be left with the school nurse and that the items are available in the girls restroom.
A female student said the machines in the restroom that dispense the product for a quarter are often empty.
To highlight the use of cell phones, Neal said that within 15 minutes after the end of the Friday assembly, a parent called him about the issue. He said obviously a student had used a cell phone to call the parent. He said cell-phone use by students prompted many complaints by teachers and that the phone usage disrupts the learning environment.
Neal directly attributed the ruling about purses and gym bags to cell-phone use. He said there has been an increase in students hiding their phones and hands in bags to text-message during class.
Pea Ridge's policy governing cell phones states," Cell phones are not allowed to be displayed, used or activated during the regular school day. If a cell phone is confiscated from a student, the parent will be required to come and pick up the cell phone. "
According to Thompson, state law prohibits possession of "any paging device, beeper or similar electronic communication device on the school campus," except in an exemption for health or other compelling reasons and during afterschool hours and at extracurricular activities.
On a recent visit to the school campus, it was apparent that many students, male and female alike, had cell phones, and some were clearly visible on students' belts.
Neal said that policy varies between buildings in Pea Ridge. His policy applies to the high school and not the junior high school. He said that when the school is restructured next year and ninth-grade students are in his building, it will apply to them but doesn't at this time. In Pea Ridge, 10 th- through 12 th-grade students have classes in the high school. Seventh- through ninth-grade students attend classes in the adjacent juniorhigh-school building. Some ninth-grade classes are in the high-school building.
During class Monday, Neal reiterated his position and spoke to ninth-graders who attend classes in the highschool building. He told students it would not be fair to other student to require them to have clear bags and not require the same of the ninth-graders coming to the building. He told the juniorhigh-school students that a bag deemed unacceptable will be confiscated and kept in the office while the students are in the high-school building.
During Friday's assembly, a female student questioned Neal, saying she had attended the school for three years and had not been told she could not bring a purse. Neal answered that, regardless how it had been handled in the past, it is school policy and state law and that it will not be allowed.
School policy states," Any student in grades 9-12 may carry a book bag to school. The only book bags that will be allowed will be completely clear plastic or mesh. There will be no exceptions."
The paragraph immediately following that guideline states: "No lockers will be issued by Pea Ridge High School."
In December 1999, the School Board agreed not to install lockers in the new high school. To keep students from having to carry books back and forth, the board voted to have two sets of textbooks - one set for classroom use, the other for home use. Students use backpacks to carry binders, notebooks, workbooks, pens, pencils, calculators and other necessary materials throughout the day. One student's bag weighed 20 pounds.
The lack of lockers is one issue cited by parents for girls needing a purse or other personal bag beyond a backpack for a wallet, keys and other personal items.
Van Dyke said Tuesday that he continues to support the no-locker policy, even though it is costly to the district. He said he believes it is best for student safety.
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