Kellogg Middle School announces students won't be allowed to use backpacks throughout the day

Jordan Shearer, Post-Bulletin, Rochester, Minn.
·2 min read

May 7—ROCHESTER — Students at Kellogg Middle School will no longer be able to carry their backpacks with them throughout the day.

Principal Angi McAndrews informed the school's families in a newsletter that students will have to keep their bags in their lockers starting Wednesday, May 8.

"Prior to COVID, students always kept their backpacks or bags in their lockers," the principal wrote in the newsletter. "This decision is not the result of a singular event. Rather, we are seeing all sorts of backpack distractions, from students bringing vapes or other prohibited items and bags full of beauty supplies, to days' worth of snacks and sneaky places to keep personal tech devices."

The change is a reversion back to a school policy from before the COVID-19 era. Because of the pandemic, students were allowed to carry bags to keep their materials clean and isolated from others.

Rochester Public Schools Communications Director Mamisoa Knutson said Kellogg Middle School has had about 10 instances of students concealing vape pens in their bags, and about five instances of students concealing other prohibited items, such as pocket knives, since the beginning of the school year.

Knutson clarified that although the school is asking students to keep their bags in lockers, they will be provided draw string bags if requested.

In April, Rochester Public Schools released information regarding the number of incidents documented by school resource officers from the beginning of the year through the end of February. At the middle school level, there were four reported incidents of drug paraphernalia, but no reports of actual drug possession at the city's four middle schools.

That report, however, only shows the data collected from the Rochester Police Department, and not the school administration.

There isn't a standard policy across the district. Located in the far south of Rochester, Willow Creek Middle School doesn't allow bags in the classrooms. On the far north side, Dakota Middle School doesn't allow bags during the lunch periods. Located in northwest Rochester, John Adams does not have a policy regarding students' bags.

"Each school has its own approach to this in response to what works best for the school environment," Knutson said via email.