After cancer warnings, what’s next for the future of CMS’ clear backpack initiative?
More than a week after the discovery of cancer warnings and months after spending more than $440,000, next steps for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools’ clear backpack initiative remain unclear.
Superintendent Earnest Winston has remained mum on what will happen to tens of thousands of clear backpacks ordered for CMS high schoolers and did not address the issue Tuesday night during the Board of Education meeting.
Winston on Tuesday said workers have installed body scanners at seven of the district’s high schools. An additional 14 high schools will receive body scanners within the next two weeks, he said. The equipment will allow the screening of students for guns and weapons.
“Many students have commented they feel safer with the body scanners in place,” Winston said.
The district paused indefinitely its plan to distribute the clear backpacks to students after warning labels about cancer-causing chemicals were found and announced in an email last month. The initiative was part of a layered approach CMS is implementing in response to safety concerns on campuses.
Body scanners also are part of the approach.
So far, 25 firearms have been found on campuses this school year.
In an email to the Observer Monday, CMS communications staff members said they will provide an update when they have new information to share.
“Again, out of an abundance of caution, we will not proceed with clear backpack distribution until this matter is resolved,” said Eddie Perez, a media relations specialist.
But it is unclear how the district is resolving the matter.
A problem with thousands of backpacks
The email sent by the district last month and obtained by the Observer said staff members discovered most clear backpacks contained a warning tag required by Proposition 65 for California residents. The tags, which were discovered when workers unloaded the bags, mark items that may contain cancer-causing chemicals.
A purchase order shows 40,000 of the 46,000 backpacks were made by New York-based A.D. Sutton and Sons and are primarily made of a material called polyvinyl chloride, or PVC, the Observer reported.
A state of California website maintained for Proposition 65 states six phthalates found in PVC products are on the warning list because they can cause “birth defects or other reproductive harm and/or cancer.” California’s Proposition 65 “requires businesses to determine if they must provide a warning about exposure to the chemical.”
Students at Hopewell High School and Cochrane Collegiate Academy were to be the first to try out the clear backpacks last week.
Editor’s note: This article was corrected at 12:24 p.m. April 6 to state which chemicals are on the Proposition 65 warning list.
This story was originally published April 6, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
