Backpacks at WHS FAQ

Backpack Storage: Frequently Asked Questions

We understand that students and families have questions about the procedure that backpacks be stored in lockers during the school day. We want the beginning of the school year to be about teaching the routine, not penalizing students while they are learning it. Our staff will work with students to help them become more comfortable with this new practice.

Below are answers to some of the questions we have received.

Why are students being asked to keep their backpacks in their lockers?

The practice is intended to support several district priorities: student safety and security, protection of personal belongings, less clutter in classrooms and walkways, and a more focused learning environment.

It also complements New York State’s move toward distraction-free schools, which emphasizes creating school environments where students can remain focused and engaged in learning throughout the entire school day. While the state law specifically addresses personal internet-enabled devices, our backpack practice supports the broader goal of reducing unnecessary distractions and creating classrooms that are organized and ready for learning.

Rather than carrying everything throughout the day, students will use their lockers as a secure location for their backpacks and gather the materials they need for each part of their day. This helps reduce clutter in classrooms and hallways while keeping personal belongings in a consistent location.

The practice also aligns with our WCSD Strategic Plan, which calls for a safe, supportive learning environment, increased student engagement, and helping every student reach their full potential academically, socially, and personally. It further supports our Portrait of a WCSD Graduate by giving students opportunities to build independence, responsibility, preparedness, and decision-making skills as they manage what they need throughout their school day.

Ultimately, this is about more than where students keep their backpacks. It is one part of our broader commitment to creating a safe, focused, supportive, and purposeful learning environment while preparing students with the habits and skills they will need beyond high school.

Is this because of a specific safety or security incident?

If students go through OpenGate when they enter school, why do backpacks need to stay in lockers?

OpenGate and backpack storage serve different purposes.

OpenGate is one layer of the district's security procedures as students enter the building. Backpack storage addresses safety and security concerns that can occur throughout the school day after students are inside.

Keeping backpacks secured in lockers reduces opportunities for bags or belongings to be grabbed, moved, hidden, taken, or tampered with. It also reduces backpack-related horseplay and keeps classroom floors, aisles, and emergency pathways clear.

School safety is most effective when multiple practices work together rather than relying on one security measure.

How does keeping backpacks in lockers improve security?

A backpack carried throughout the school day is frequently placed beside a desk, underneath a chair, on the floor, or in another location where other students may have access to it.

Keeping backpacks secured in lockers:

Reduces opportunities for another student to access, move, hide, or tamper with a backpack.
Helps protect personal belongings such as phones, earbuds, chargers, money, and keys.
Reduces opportunities for something to be removed from or placed into another student's backpack.
Reduces conflicts that can result from students touching or taking another student's belongings.

How does this improve physical safety?

Backpacks can create obstacles in classrooms, particularly when they are placed underneath or beside desks, in aisles, or near doorways.

Hallways and stairways present a different concern. During busy passing periods, students are moving in large numbers through these shared spaces. Reducing the number of large backpacks being carried gives students more room to safely navigate crowded hallways, stairs, and landings.

Keeping backpacks in lockers also helps keep floors, aisles, doorways, and emergency pathways clear and reduces backpack-related horseplay, such as students grabbing, pulling, swinging, kicking, or hiding another student’s bag.

Also see the question - Are there physical health benefits to keeping backpacks in lockers?

Is the backpack expectation required by New York State?

No. New York State does not require school districts to prohibit students from carrying backpacks.

New York State does, however, require public schools to maintain a distraction-free school day by restricting unsanctioned use of personal internet-enabled devices throughout the entire school day.

The law requires districts to establish an on-site storage method for these devices, and student lockers are specifically identified as one permissible option.

Our backpack practice is a local decision that supports our broader safety, security, organizational, and distraction-free learning goals.

What does the New York State Distraction-Free Schools law have to do with backpacks?

The state law focuses on personal internet-enabled devices, not backpacks.

However, New York State guidance makes clear that storing a device inside a backpack that a student continues to carry does not restrict access to the device.

Keeping backpacks in lockers therefore complements our implementation of a distraction-free school day by reducing immediate access to personal devices and other potential distractions.

Why implement this at the high school now?

Case Middle School implemented the practice last year, providing the district with experience in how students adjust to using their lockers and managing materials throughout the school day.

The high school is now implementing a similar practice as part of our continued effort to strengthen safety and security, create a more focused learning environment, reduce clutter, and protect personal belongings.

The timing also aligns with New York State’s Distraction-Free Schools law, which requires schools to restrict student use of personal internet-enabled devices throughout the entire school day. In accordance with the law, our Code of Conduct requires high school students to place cell phones and other personal internet-enabled devices in their lockers during the school day. While storing backpacks in lockers is not a requirement of the law, our experience has shown that consistent expectations and routines are important to successfully maintaining a distraction-free environment. Keeping backpacks in lockers provides students with a secure location for personal belongings, including items they do not need during instruction, and supports clearer, more consistent expectations throughout the school day.

Other school districts, including those in our area, are also reviewing or implementing similar practices at the secondary level. Together, these efforts support our broader goal of creating a safe, secure, organized, and distraction-free environment where students can focus on learning.

Will students have enough time to get to their lockers between classes?

Students at Watertown High School have four minutes between class periods. Students will have opportunities to practice opening their lockers, become comfortable with their combinations, and develop routines for determining which materials they need for upcoming classes.

We will begin with a gentle start and grace period as students adjust to the new routine. Staff will be available to help students locate and access their lockers, work through combination issues, determine the best times to visit their lockers based on their schedules, and navigate the building efficiently.

We understand that developing a new routine takes time. Our initial focus will be on teaching, supporting, and helping students problem-solve, not penalizing them while they are learning. As students become more comfortable, they will develop routines that work best with their individual schedules.

What if a student's locker is far away from one of their classes?

We understand that students’ schedules, locker locations, and individual needs vary. Students will be encouraged to plan ahead and will not necessarily need to visit their locker after every class. They can gather materials for multiple classes at one time when appropriate.

We will begin with a gentle start and grace period as students learn this new routine. We recognize that students may need time to become comfortable with their locker combinations, determine the best times to visit their lockers, and learn how to efficiently navigate between classes.

During this transition, our focus will be on teaching and supporting the new routine—not penalizing students while they are learning it. If a student is having difficulty with a locker, needs help with a combination, or is struggling to manage the transition time between classes, staff will be available to assist.

As students become more comfortable with the routine, we expect them to develop strategies that work best for their individual schedules.

What can students carry with them?

Backpacks can be brought to school, but must be kept in their locker.

Students may carry the instructional materials they need for their classes, including books, folders, notebooks, Chromebooks, and a small pencil case or pouch for essentials.

The procedure specifically applies to backpacks and similar bags, not to the instructional materials students need to learn. While a backpack may be convenient for carrying multiple items, allowing backpacks to travel from class to class would not address the reasons for the practice. Backpacks can add clutter to classrooms, aisles, and doorways; contribute to congestion in busy hallways and stairways; create opportunities for belongings to be grabbed, moved, or accessed by others; and provide additional space for unnecessary or distracting items to be carried throughout the school day.

Students will instead use their lockers as a secure home base for their backpacks and belongings, taking only the materials they need for the next class or several classes. This allows students to have what they need for learning while still achieving the safety, security, reduced-clutter, and distraction-free benefits of the practice.

What about students who need to carry medical supplies or other necessary items?

Will students keep the same locker throughout their time at the high school?

What if a student has difficulty opening their locker?

Won't students just carry everything in their arms instead?

Students should not need to carry all of their materials for the entire day. Part of the routine is helping students learn to plan ahead, use their lockers strategically, and gather materials for upcoming classes. Students can carry materials for more than one class when that makes sense.

This also supports the skills identified in our Portrait of a WCSD Graduate:

Planning what they need,
Managing their time and responsibilities,
Making decisions,
Adapting their routine, and
Becoming increasingly independent

The goal is not for students to replace a backpack with an armful of materials, but to develop a manageable routine that allows them to carry what they need while using their locker as a secure home base throughout the day.

Could this make students late to class?

Our goal is for students to develop routines that allow them to use their lockers effectively and arrive at class on time. High school students have four minutes between classes, and students do not need to visit their lockers between every class. They can plan ahead and gather materials for multiple classes when appropriate.

We also recognize that learning a new routine takes time. We will begin with a soft launch and grace period, giving students time to practice using their lockers, determine the best times to stop based on their individual schedules, and learn how to navigate between classes efficiently. Staff will be available to assist students who have difficulty with their locker, combination, location, or timing. Our focus during this transition will be on helping students learn the routine, not penalizing them while they are adjusting.

This process also supports our Portrait of a WCSD Graduate, such as,

Planning,
Time management,
Problem-solving,
Adaptability,
Responsibility, and
Independence skills that will serve them in school and beyond.

Why not just let students decide whether they want to carry a backpack?

Consistency is important when implementing schoolwide safety, security, and instructional practices. Having one clear expectation makes the practice easier for students and staff to understand and consistently follow. It also ensures that the benefits of clearer pathways, reduced access to other students’ belongings, less clutter, and fewer distractions are realized throughout the school.

This approach also supports our Portrait of a WCSD Graduate, which emphasizes preparing students with the skills and habits they will need beyond high school. Students are still making choices throughout their day, such as,

Planning when to visit their locker,
Determining what materials they need,
Managing their time, and a
Adapting their routines based on their schedules.

These everyday decisions help students practice responsibility, problem-solving, self-management, and independence while working within a shared schoolwide expectation.

Having a consistent expectation does not remove student responsibility; it provides a structure within which students can develop and practice it.

Students carry backpacks in college, so why can't they carry them in high school?

College and high school environments operate differently. High school students move through a structured school day with hundreds of students transitioning through shared hallways, stairways, and classrooms at the same time, along with different safety, supervision, and security procedures.

College students typically have more individualized schedules, often attending fewer classes in succession with longer periods of time between them. They are generally not moving through a full day of back-to-back classes on the same schedule as the majority of the student body.

Preparing students for life after high school is also about more than replicating a college environment. Our Portrait of a WCSD Graduate emphasizes developing the skills students will need to successfully navigate what comes next.

Planning ahead,
Managing time and materials,
Adapting to different situations,
Solving problems, and
Becoming increasingly independent

Using a locker strategically gives students another opportunity to practice those skills while meeting the safety, security, and instructional expectations of a high school environment.

Are other schools doing this?

Yes. Backpack storage practices are not unique to Watertown. Other local districts and districts across New York State have also implemented or are beginning similar practices at the secondary level.

This is also not an entirely new practice for Watertown High School. Storing backpacks in lockers was an expectation at the high school in the past, and this year represents a return to that practice.

Schools may have different reasons and procedures for implementing backpack expectations. Our decision is based on what we believe best supports our students and school environment, including safety and security, reduced clutter, protection of personal belongings, and a more focused, distraction-free learning environment.

Won't students be more likely to drop or damage their Chromebooks without a backpack?

Students will only need to carry their Chromebook when it is needed for instruction and can plan locker visits to avoid carrying too many materials at once.

Keeping a Chromebook in a backpack does not eliminate the risk of damage. As with other school-issued materials, students are expected to handle their Chromebook responsibly and take reasonable care of it throughout the school day. This includes carrying it securely, placing it in a safe location when not in use, and avoiding situations that could result in damage.

How will students carry their Chromebooks between classes, and what should they do with their chargers?

Students may carry their Chromebook by hand between classes, just as they would carry a textbook, binder, or other instructional materials. Chromebooks should remain closed while students are walking through the building to help protect the device and allow students to safely navigate hallways and stairways.

Students are encouraged to arrive at school each day with their Chromebook fully charged. Personal chargers should generally remain in the student’s locker rather than being carried from class to class.

If a Chromebook needs to be charged during the school day, staff have chargers in their classrooms for students to use. Students may elect to bring their own Chromebook charger to class.

What should students do with musical instruments?

Students who bring a musical instrument to school will not be expected to carry it with them throughout the school day. Students should bring their instrument to the band room at the beginning of the school day, where it can be stored until it is needed.

This provides students with a designated location for their instruments while reducing the need to carry large or bulky instrument cases through classrooms, hallways, and stairways throughout the day.

What should students do with athletic equipment?

Are there physical health benefits to keeping backpacks in lockers?

Research and health guidance support reducing the amount of weight students carry throughout the school day. Heavy or improperly worn backpacks can contribute to back, neck, and shoulder discomfort. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends using lockers when possible to help lighten students' loads.

Keeping backpacks in lockers allows students to carry only the materials they need for their upcoming classes.

How will this affect student independence and school culture?

We understand that changes to established routines can be frustrating, particularly for students who are accustomed to carrying their belongings throughout the day. The intent of this expectation is not to take away student independence, but to create a safer, less cluttered, and more focused learning environment while helping students develop routines for managing their time and materials.

Student independence remains important. Students will make decisions throughout the day about when to visit their locker during hall transitions, what materials they need for upcoming classes, and how to manage their time effectively, skills that also connect to our Portrait of a WCSD Graduate.

We also recognize that personal expression and a sense of belonging contribute to a positive school culture. Students will be encouraged to make their locker their own by decorating the inside of it with appropriate photos, magnets, and other removable decorations, consistent with school expectations. This gives students an opportunity to personalize a space they will be using throughout the school day.

Most importantly, a positive school culture depends on students feeling heard, respected, and supported. During the first year of implementation, staff and administrators will monitor how the practice is working, listen to student and family feedback, and remain responsive to concerns or unintended challenges that may arise to ensure students are supported in this transition.

What is the overall goal?

The goal is simple: to create the best possible environment for students to learn, grow, and succeed.

Keeping backpacks secured in lockers is one small part of a larger approach to school safety and student success. It helps protect personal belongings, keeps classrooms and pathways clearer, reduces opportunities for horseplay and conflict, supports a distraction-free school day, and creates a more organized learning environment.

The practice also supports the priorities outlined in our WCSD Strategic Plan, including maintaining safe and supportive learning environments, increasing student engagement, and preparing every student to reach their full potential academically, socially, and personally.

It also connects directly to our Portrait of a WCSD Graduate.

Students learn to plan ahead,
Manage their time and materials,
Problem-solve,
Adapt their routines, and
Take responsibility for their belonging

Ultimately, this is about more than backpacks. It is about creating a safe, focused, and supportive school environment while helping students develop the skills, habits, and independence they will need to be successful in school and beyond.

When will this start?

The backpack practice will begin on the first day of school, September 3rd. Students will be expected to store their backpacks in their assigned lockers during the school day.

During first period, students will be given time to locate their locker, become familiar with their combination, and store their backpack and personal belongings. Staff will be available to assist students who need help locating or accessing their locker.

This will allow students time and support to become comfortable with the new routine as the school year begins.