IPSB committee recommends bookbag options

Published 6:00 am Thursday, April 12, 2018

Safety, time and costs were key concerns brought up when the Iberia Parish School Board’s Goals Committee Wednesday night to decide whether to recommend a required change in backpacks for students.

“I think Iberia Parish is way ahead of the curve in protecting students from persons trying to bring harm to our students,” Assistant Superintendent Michael Judice said. “In this particular item (backpacks) we are behind the curb. As I talked to different parishes around the area they have been implementing this for years, Lafayette, Vermilion, St. Martin and St. Mary.”

IPSB Superintendent Dale Henderson and Judice’s recommendation to the committee was to allow the students to have a choice in selecting clear plastic or mesh backpacks. Henderson and Judice also recommended that the backpacks be required for both middle and high school students throughout the parish. 

The suggestion was seconded by Dan Leblanc and it passed but after much discussion. 

IPSB board member Rachel Segura, who is not on the Goals Committee, attended the meeting with a recommendation that the verbage be changed in the policy to allow only clear backpacks as an option, and that it be required for K-12th grades. 

After hearing from board members who spoke about parents wanting a choice of bags, Segura had a change of heart. 

“From what I’m being told if parents want an option I think they should have one but I still would like to see it required for all grade levels,” Segura said. “I think if your going to add another layer of protection for students it should apply to all and if I were a parent I would find the extra $10 or so for my child.”

Segura added, “It is not just the middle and high school students causing problems.”

Jay McDonald, a IPSB board member and Goals Committee member, made the motion to amend the policy to include a choice of clear or mesh bags and that it be required for K-12th grades. The motion failed for lack of a second.

Committee member Kathleen Rosamond said she had received calls from parents concerned with the costs of making the new school bag choices mandatory. 

Judice said that he has priced both clear and mesh bags and they range from $9.99 to $60 and $70. Rosamond wanted to know would parents receive help with costs. 

“Just like we did with the school uniforms we will seek out businesses and those who want to donate a bag to a student,” Henderson said.

Juliet Granger, a parent with three kids in Iberia Parish’s school system, spoke out against the new bookbag requirement. 

“It’s not just economical,” Granger said. “And are band members who have to carry instruments, will their cases have to be clear? What about young ladies whose bodies start changing in middle school, are they going to have to carry their personal items in clear bags for everyone to see?”  

Superintendent-elect Cary Laviolette had asked earlier if the board would still allow girls to carry purses.

“It’s a loophole that we would have to keep working towards,” Henderson said. 

New Iberia Senior High student Laila Gilbert said that she had heard of incidents where teachers have brought guns into school. Gilbert asked, “Will teachers have to carry clear bags too?” Gilbert said.  The teen added that the board’s plan was “a band aid on a sinking ship.”

“Nothing that anybody would ever do is 100%,” responded Henderson. “This school board has invested millions in school safety measures. If we just catch one or two or five persons who would have intended danger then it’s worth it.”

The other key point that was made in Wednesday’s meeting was the time that the new mesh or clear plastic bags would save during school searches. 

Westgate High Principal Neely Moore also noted that it took her an hour to conduct a search of 1,150 students this week with regular backpacks. 

The committee meeting ended with a vote of 6 to 1 to recommend clear or mesh backpacks for middle and high school students, with the lone vote against being McDonald. 

The final decision on whether the recommendation passes will take place at next week’s Iberia Parish School Board meeting  on Wednesday, April 18th.