Only clear bags will soon be allowed into Wake high school events

Although the rule was on the policy committee's agenda, system officials aren't asking the board to approve it as an official policy, which allows officials to adjust the rule as they roll it out. They plan to review it 30 days after implementing it to see how well it's working.

"I think it’s a real smart, good idea," Board Member Sam Hershey said. "It adds an extra layer of security for our high schools."

The new rule, once implemented, would prohibit traditional purses and bags at high school spectator events, instead allowing only clear bags. Exceptions would be made for medical items, containers for period products, certain baby carriers, coats, blankets and seat cushions. People would otherwise be limited to one clear bag that’s 12 inches by 15 inches by 3 inches and one clutch or wristlet bag that’s no more than four inches by six inches by one inch. That means no backpacks or belt bags, unless they’re small and clear.

That's a concern for some school board members, who noted many students may go straight from school to a football game, for example, and need a place to store their backpacks. Some schools have gotten rid of lockers or cut off access to them once classes end.

Kendrick Scott, the school systems senior director of the Office fo Security, said he'd speak with principals who might already have ways they handle that.

"I will definitely look into that," Scott said.

Committee Chairwoman Monika Johnson-Hostler said South Garner High School lets students leave their backpacks under a tent. The school has transportation challenges, and students often can't leave school to go home before going to a game, she said.

Hershey mentioned students in Durham, where clear bags are required at sporting events, sometimes leave their backpacks by the fence, unattended.

"If the weather is nice, that’s fine," he said. But backpacks might also have devices in them -- things of value that students would be leaving unwatched. He said he's not sure he'd leave his backpack and laptop unattended like that.

Some school principals have been asking system officials since April for a rule allowing only clear bags at some events, Scott said. Officials say it’s a safety measure, and the rule notes that bags may be searched. Consistency across schools lessens the potential for confusion among spectators traveling to different schools for different events.

In August, Wake’s Millbrook Magnet High School began allowing only clear bags into athletic events, except for small clutch bags and medical bags, months after a student was found to have brought a loaded assault rifle into a basketball game in February. The student didn’t fire the weapon. The school also began requiring jackets to be open upon entry, limited entry to just one door, and prohibited re-entry into the game for people who had already left.

Some other school systems in North Carolina, such as Guilford County Schools, have moved to clear bags for sporting events, though not for other events, like plays.

Clear bags are commonly required at professional sporting events, concerts and many higher-level college athletics competitions.

Unlike professional sporting arenas and concert venues, Wake County doesn’t use metal detectors, some of which could detect some knives. Traditional metal detectors could cost millions of dollars and prompt lines to get into school. Some newer weapons detection systems can reduce lines but often don’t catch knives.

Board Member Chery Caulfield asked if the school system would consider metal-detecting wands for people entering events. People could be carrying weapons on their person and not in a bag, she said.

"I guess my concern is that we have we wouldn’t have a full security," Caulfield said.

Scott was open to the suggestion.

"We could absolutely explore that," he said.

People already need to queue up to scan their tickets to enter events, and event personnel could check them then, Caulfield said.

Hershey said after the meeting that he believed Caulfield's concern should be addressed as a part of the review officials will o 30 days after the rule goes into effect.

"I'm certainly ready to have that conversation," he said.

Bringing a weapon to school is a crime, even if the weapon isn’t used. Weapons are sometimes brought to campuses, although they are rarely used in crimes when they are.

Data show the number of students cited for crime on campuses has risen in recent years after a few years of declines. The number remains below the numbers from the mid-2000s and early 2010s.

During the 2021-22 school year, 3,292 students were reported for bringing a weapon to a North Carolina public and charter school campuses, usually a knife, according to the state Department of Public Instruction, which compiles annual data on reportable criminal offenses in schools.

The data shows the number of students reported for an offense, not necessarily the number of criminal incidents that occurred.

The latest year of available data is from the 2021-22 school year, when the total was up from some recent years but less than a decade ago. During that year, 62 students in North Carolina were reported for an assault involving a weapon, up from the year before but less than a decade ago.

In the Wake County Public School System, five students were reported during the 2021-22 school year for assault using a weapon at school, while 442 students were reported for bringing weapons to school. Eight students were reported for bringing a firearm to campus.