Broward schools will require all student bags on campus next school year to be clear, bringing back a safety measure briefly tried at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High after the 2018 shooting.

The district sent a note to parents Friday afternoon advising them of the new rule, which will apply to all students from pre-kindergarten through grade 12 starting Aug. 21, the first day of school.

“Providing safe learning environments that are conducive to student learning is of the highest importance, not just for Broward County Public Schools but for school districts across the nation,” Interim Superintendent Earlean Smiley said. “This added layer of security is a game-changer. It will allow school security personnel and everyone on campus to quickly spot and report if someone has brought a prohibited item to school, and it will also help serve as a deterrent.”

All bags must be see-through, including lunch boxes, purses, duffel bags and fanny packs, the district said. Mesh and colored backpacks are not permitted, even if they are transparent.

The only exceptions that will be permitted are:

• A small non-transparent pouch for personal hygiene items.

• Thermal food containers carried inside clear lunch boxes.

• School-approved carrying cases for athletics or band equipment.

The measure does not apply to teachers, staff, volunteers or visitors.

School District spokesman John Sullivan said he’s not aware of any other large districts in Florida that require clear bags. Alachua County announced last June it would require see-through bags for the 2022-23 school year but then reversed course a day later amid a backlash from parents and students.

Several school districts in Texas required them following the school massacre in Uvalde nearly a year ago. Sullivan said district officials recently visited the Dallas Independent School District, which had adjusted well to the change.

“It became a very normal part of their process and days, and the students and staff, they were very accustomed to it, and it wasn’t an issue,” Sullivan said.

The idea is not new to Broward. The school district last tried the idea in April and May 2018. The district had received a donation of clear backpacks in the wake of the mass shooting on Feb. 14, 2018, and distributed them to students after Spring Break.

They proved to be highly unpopular with students

Many students and parents criticized the measure at the time, saying it was ineffective and an invasion of privacy. They said students got around the backpack policy by putting liners or non-clear bags inside them, and that school officials were inconsistent at searching them. Some argued female students were embarrassed to bring feminine products.

One Stoneman Douglas student complained in 2018 about the smell of her bag, comparing it to “the inflatable pool toys when they’re immediately taken out of the box.” Another said the bags are bound to get mixed up when everyone has the same one.

The school district announced in the summer of 2018 that it was dropping the clear backpack requirement but would install metal detectors at the front entrance. But the metal detector idea was also abandoned after a security consultant recommended against it, saying it created a false sense of security.

The school district did start conducting random metal detection and searches and started using police dogs in some schools following an uptick in weapons and threats after students returned from the pandemic.

The clear backpack idea isn’t popular with students at Western High in Davie, year, said Caroline Walsh, a 15-year-old sophomore at the school. She said it was announced during her fourth-period class Friday.

“Most of us our very against it. Everyone was kind of upset talking about how it wasn’t the best course of action,” she said. “We felt it was an invasion of privacy. … I bring my laptop but I don’t want everyone seeing my electronics. They might want to steal it.”

The idea was also largely panned on the school district’s Facebook page. 

“This is just another punishment for our kids that is not going to change anything. You’re opening kids up to harassment and bullying opportunities, not to mention privacy issues,” wrote Gina Calcagno Mongelli.

“This makes me unbelievably angry,” Emily Lackey wrote. “This fixes absolutely nothing and takes away something most students look forward to buying.”

The School Board discussed the matter during a closed-door session, Sullivan said. Parkland parent Narnike Grant told the South Florida Sun Sentinel the school district should have let students and parents weigh in on this before a decision was made.

“They got no input from the community, and they’re keyed up ready to go,” she said. “The school district should be transparent and not making decisions behind closed doors. It’s quite concerning.”

The clear backpack proposal has received mixed reviews from security experts. Pinellas Sheriff Bob Gualtieri, who chairs a state commission that has made safety recommendations in the wake of the Parkland tragedy, said he supports the measure.

“It eliminates the unknown. Solves the problem of not knowing what’s in the backpack,” Gualtieri said. “With a clear backpack requirement, nobody is going to have a gun and multiple magazines.”

He said it also makes it easier when schools conduct random metal detector searches..

“If you do random wanding, you inherently have to check, backpacks, etc. If the backpack is clear, it makes it that much faster and easier,” Gualtieri said.

But Ken Trump, an Ohio-based school security expert, called the idea “security theater” and won’t make much of a difference. He said most school districts he knows that have tried this have later nixed it. He said students could still hide weapons in their clothing, he said.

“It’s a nightmare for school administrators and security personnel because they become the backpack police and they spend more time attempting to enforce the backpack rule than they do engaging with students being building relationships with them.”

He said school officials are more successful at reducing violence when they foster an environment where students feel comfortable sharing potential dangers.

Sullivan said this is just one of many security measures the district is using.

“We know not one single measure or initiative will prevent 100%,” he said. “But this is just another layer to ensure that we’re doing everything in our power to prevent another tragedy from happening in our schools.”

Students and parents can find more information about the new measure at