Does your kids’ school require mesh or clear backpacks? Here’s what to know. 20%
By Xochilt Garcia3%
8/3/2026, 3:00:00 AM
BS Summary: This article contains 17 faulty reasoning types, including Availability Heuristic, Confirmation Bias, and Negativity Bias, with Anecdotal as the most egregious example at 17.4% saturation with 126 hits. Analysis detected 969 faulty-reasoning hits from 724 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 28.5% and a BS Rank of 20% (22,279 of 27,739 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 80.30% of the article peer group.
Some families in San Antonio may need to add new backpacks to their shopping lists as they gear up for a new school year.
Harlandale Independent School District recently adopted a new policy, requiring that all students use clear or mesh backpacks for the 2026-27 school year, which starts Aug.
12.
It’s the first year the district of roughly 11,500 students has done so.
While some parents feel like the new policy is inconvenient, they say it makes them feel safer when sending their kids to school.
“It’s already hard to buy all the school supplies and stuff,” said Kayla Medina, who was on her way back to her car after picking up free school supplies and mesh backpacks from Harlandale’s “Back to School Bash” on Thursday.
But with three children enrolled at Harlandale ISD, Medina said it’s also nice to know what’s in students’ backpacks.
“There’s just been a lot more situations where kids are bringing things to school that they shouldn’t,” she said.
“Now you have the availability to actually just see what’s in there, and not even for safety issues, but just for things that they shouldn’t be taking to school, like toys and whatnot.”
District spokesperson Melinda Garza said the policy change requiring clear/mesh bags, first communicated to parents in June, wasn’t prompted by any specific incident or increase in threats.
“The clear/mesh backpack policy is one proactive measure that allows for quicker visual inspections while minimizing disruption to the school day,” she said.
Blanca Diaz is a parent of four students enrolled at Harlandale ISD, three of them girls.
While Diaz doesn’t mind the clear bag policy, she is concerned about the privacy of girls and teenagers going through puberty and menstruation.
“I always tell my kids, put it in a makeup bag.
Like, they can’t tell you nothing there,” she said, in reference to menstrual hygiene products.
According to Harlandale ISD’s backpack policy, students are allowed to carry small clutches 8.5 inches by 5.5 inches that don’t have to be clear.
#### Who else has clear backpack policies?
Clear/mesh bag policies grew popular across Texas after the 2022 Robb Elementary School shooting, where 19 students and two teachers were shot and killed, but few districts in San Antonio adopted districtwide policies after the tragedy.
Southside ISD adopted a clear/mesh bag policy in 2022, which is still in place.
South San Antonio ISD adopted a similar rule for the 2025-26 school year, according to the most recent available student handbook.
North East ISD used to require clear or mesh backpacks for all middle and high school students, a policy the district revoked in 2021 after families complained about the bags’ durability.
#### Do clear backpack policies work?
While clear bag policies might make communities feel safer, the research on how effective they are at actually preventing violence is mixed, said Jeff Temple a violence prevention researcher, professor and psychologist at UTHealth Houston.
In the wake of the 2018 Sante Fe High School shooting in Texas, Gov.
Greg Abbott appointed Temple to sit on a school safety committee.
He is also part of a National Academy of Sciences committee that looked into the effectiveness of school shooting preparation.
“We really have little research that clear backpack policies reduce violence or prevent shootings,” Temple told the San Antonio Report.
The same is true for other visible security measures, like metal detectors.
Acts of school violence are never explained by a single factor, Temple said, but some of the clearest warning signs include prior threats made by potential perpetrators, people who socially isolate themselves, having access to firearms, and being prior victims of violence or having a grievance with a school or community.
According to Temple’s research, the best way to prevent school violence is building healthy school climates instead of only relying on physical security measures or mental health services.
“Having access to behavioral health services is certainly important,” Temple said.
“But also (important) is improving the reporting system so students feel comfortable speaking up and having trusted adults that people can go to, and having some school connectedness.”
All school districts in San Antonio have anonymous tiplines where students, staff and community members can quickly alert local police departments and district administrators of safety concerns they have.
Speakers
4speakers50%attributed speech364writer words
Selected voice
100%flagged-word coverageKayla Medina
111 attributed words31% of attributed speech71% writer coverage
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