By FULLER ROYAL
Staff Writer
In the wake of last month’s post-football game murder at Lake Waccamaw and the rumored possible retaliation at WHS that following Monday — 70 percent of the students stayed home — Whiteville City Schools Superintendent Dr. Randall Shaver outlined what he plans to do to make the school safer.
Included in that list was the possible banning of book bags.
Last week, it was announced to students that the ban might begin Nov. 1 for WHS as well as Central Middle and Edgewood Elementary schools.
Whiteville Primary School would not be affected.
Other than the announcement, details were sketchy. No one was sure if mesh or clear book bags could be substituted or if the ban would extend to all types of bags, including pocketbooks or purses.
Critics of the ban say that it’s overkill and ask how students will be able to haul 20 or more pounds of books to and from school and from class to class.
Since the murder and retaliation rumor, WHS students have been going through metal detection devices each morning before their first class.
The process is time consuming – nearly 800 students have to be “scanned” and almost as many book bags, pocketbooks, gym bags and band instrument cases have to be visually or physically searched.
WHS Principal John Westberg said the process has gotten faster but still takes a large amount of time in the mornings.
Westberg had no specifics to offer on what the final plan would be. Shaver said that the system had yet to determine what exactly would be banned.
Each school’s school improvement team is working out the details.
Shaver said that his experience with other systems had shown him that an outright ban on book bags was the best way to go. There has been no final decision.
January 15th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
Requiring bookbags to be mesh or see through plastic and having students hang them on the back of chairs in the classroom could help solve the problem.
January 15th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
Requiring students to have mesh or see through plastic book bags and hanging them on the back of their chairs in the classroom could help solve the problem.