Lakewood Schools To Require Clear Backpacks After Gun Incident

LAKEWOOD, NJ — Students in the Lakewood School District will be required to use clear backpacks when school starts in the fall as the district continues to look at measures to improve school safety, district officials said Wednesday evening.

In a public forum livestreamed by the Lakewood Scoop, Lakewood School Board Attorney Michael Inzelbuch said the district is introducing the requirement in response to the June 5 incident where a fourth-grader brought a handgun on a school bus and into school. (RELATED: 2 Boys Charged For Loaded Gun On Lakewood School Bus: Police)

The 9-year-old showed the .22-caliber gun to schoolmates, and the boy and a 10-year-old fifth-grader were seen handling the weapon in video captured by the suveillance camera on the bus. Authorities have not said how the boy came into possession of the handgun, but a student who saw it reported that to school administrators, police and the district said. The handgun was confiscated during first-period classes at Oak Street Elementary without incident, they said. (RELATED: Gun On Lakewood School Bus Seized During First Period: District)

Inzelbuch, during Wednesday's livestream, said the students are receiving home instruction but could not provide details about disciplinary actions because of privacy laws.

In addition to the requirement for clear backpacks, the district will have metal detectors in all of the elementary schools by next week, he said, making it the first district in Ocean County to have them at all its schools. The high school and middle school already are equipped with metal detectors.

"We don't need to wait for any more incidents," he said. "One time is enough."

Inzelbuch told the Asbury Park Press that students who cannot afford clear backpacks will be provided with them with assistance from the schools' parent-teacher organizations.

Students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, were required to use clear backpacks following the February massacre that killed 17 students and staff, though the move has been met with anger from students and from adults who say it deflects attention from discussions of tightening access to weapons.

A high school on Long Island also requires clear backpacks but issued them to all students in the East Rockaway district.

Inzelbuch said the requirement came as a result of discussions with Lakewood police.

"Our students have a uniform and they will also have clear backpacks," he said.

Main image via Shutterstock; second photo shows backpacks issued by the East Rockaway School District