As parents, students and staff know, the weight of our children’s backpacks is an ongoing issue. Over the years, Dr. Elster has discussed this with teachers, the PTA and the SLT, with an eye toward finding practical solutions. It was agreed that teachers and parents need to work together to make the backpacks lighter, by both choosing lighter backpacks and contents and by reducing the amount of unnecessary supplies and papers being carried around. Thank you so much to the parents, teachers and staff who have given thoughtful input on these issues.

LOCKERS/STORAGE: Lockers are not a workable option for MS54.

• The installation of lockers has been fully researched. The basement does not have enough room for 800 lockers. When hall space was measured elsewhere, it was determined that there was insufficient width to allow for the locker, a person standing at/using the locker, plus passing traffic. Other side issues came up as well, such as the unworkable idea of kids using them smoothly with just 3 minutes to change classes, and the possible issues around security and pest control, but it is the spatial logistics that ruled them out.
• One classroom – 706 – has lockers inside it that were paid for and installed long ago by a community-based organization that used the room after hours. Unfortunately, that room now has no space left for other storage, shelving, bulletin boards or display space. All who have used the room find in-room lockers to be a poor use of space and have said that kids do not use them in a way that alleviates any of the backpack weight.
•  Cubbies are still available in 6th grade classrooms; they fell out of use over the years, as kids were reluctant to leave even the most seldom-used items behind.
•  7th grade teachers have offered to let kids store things in their closets at night, where they will be safely locked up, if they do not want to carry them home and back.
•  Lunches and coats should be removed and left in the classroom in the morning.

Why Are Backpacks So Heavy?

Text books are kept at home, so they are not contributing to backpack weight. Actual contributing factors are seen to be:

•     hardcover composition books
•     folders, including some full of outdated material
•     more school supplies than necessary
•     backpack materials & construction, including wheels & hardware on rolling models *
•     language dictionaries and independent reading books

Tips for Making Backpacks Lighter

• The main weight problem is the composition books . Most students purchase the hardcover variety with 100 pages. The administration is now suggesting a soft cover version with 50 pages or fewer. Lighter composition books manufactured by Roaring Spring can be purchased through www.shoplet.com. The administration recommends the following:
  
  1. ITEM NUMBER: ROA77910: This is a 50 page composition book with a flexible cover. It weighs half as much as the 100 page, hard cover book that most of your children use now.
  2. ITEM NUMBER: ROA77591: This is a 60 page graph notebook. This is great for math. Although it does have a hard cover, it has 40 less pages than the books they are using now.
  3. ITEM NUMBER: ROA77478: This is an 80 page graph notebook. This is only slightly lighter than what the students currently are using, but it is half the price of #2.
• Parents must go through backpacks on a regular basis, to collect school notices and help students prioritize contents. Teachers will reinforce the idea of a routine ‘backpack purge’ as well.   
• Teachers have been asked to require that students start new folders for each study unit. Students may store their old folders or notes in the classroom or may keep them at home. Students do not need to carry around most of the papers in those folders.

Further information on backpack health and safety is available from the American Academy of Pediatrics.