On Monday, students can again take their backpacks to school

Students in Manatee County will be able to bring their backpacks to school starting Monday after being asked to leave them at home Friday.

The School District of Manatee County asked middle and high school students in the district to leave their backpacks at home Friday, according to district spokesman Mike Barber. But the district was notifying parents Friday afternoon that their children would be able to bring backpacks to school on Monday.

The decision, according to the district, was made following a chaotic week that saw more than a dozen threats to district schools, several arrests in relation to those threats and lockdowns of three of the district’s six high schools on Wednesday and Thursday.

The initial call to parents on the backpack ban came in on Thursday night.

“We know this might cause an inconvenience to some, but all of the extra stress surrounding our schools this week has had a taxing toll on school administrators and staff, as well as local law enforcement officials. Again, we are asking all middle and high school students to refrain from bringing backpacks to school tomorrow, Friday, February 23. We appreciate your support in this request as we strive to improve the safety and security of all of our schools,” the recorded phone message said.

Students who brought backpacks with them to school were asked to drop their bags off in a designated area until they left for the day. Barber said he has not been made aware of any issues with students bringing backpacks Friday.

In the days prior, officials had been using security wands to sporadically check students’ bags as they came into the building.

“That’s been stressful, we have to take employee staff members away from what they’re supposed to be doing to do those things so to give them a break today we ask that middle and high school students not bring backpacks to school,” Barber said.

The decision to have students leave their backpacks at home comes after a week of threats of violence to several schools in Manatee County. Manatee High School was the subject of three threats. Southeast High School, Bayshore High School, Braden River Middle School, Nolan Middle School and a charter school, Team Success, each saw one threat. So far, authorities have arrested and charged six students in connection with the threats. The series of local threats came in the wake of a mass shooting on Feb. 14 that killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Broward County.

A social media post claiming Manatee County schools were closed into next week was a hoax, and school officials shared the post on their Facebook page, warning that it was a prank. Manatee County schools will be open as usual next week.

In a message Friday, Superintendent Dr. Diana Greene said that the emotional strain of the tumultuous week has been felt by everyone.

“The emotional and physical strain of the past week was being felt by students, parents, school staff and law enforcement,” Greene said. “We hoped that by asking students not to bring backpacks that it would help calm down some of the anxieties in our schools. It seems to have helped because today has relatively quiet.”

At this time, there are no plans to institute another temporary ban on backpacks, however the district said it would renew the measure should future circumstances warrant it.

This story was originally published February 23, 2018 at 7:21 AM with the headline "On Monday, students can again take their backpacks to school."