It’s two weeks into school and the administration is barely letting us know that we are required to bring mesh/ clear backpacks. They claim they put it on the Skyline High School website, but there's students that were constantly checking the website and even the Skyline twitter and did NOT see anything about requiring students to bring mesh/ clear backpacks. Mesh/ clear backpacks are made from very weak material that will barely support the weight of our 2.9-4lb chromebooks, textbooks, notebooks, etc. The straps on mesh/ clear backpacks are very thin and will make them very uncomfortable to carry especially with all of our school and personal objects we have in them. As a woman I don't and all the women at Skyline don’t not feel comfortable carrying a mesh/ clear backpack because when our menstrual cycle starts everyone will be able to see our menstrual products (due to the backpacks being mesh/ clear). It is nobody's business to know when I am on my menstrual and as women we should not feel obligated to have to buy a small pouch to carry my menstrual cycle products with money out of my own pocket. All 4,535 students have already purchased backpacks and now we have to go back and waste another $20-35 on a new backpack. Skyline is located in a low class neighborhood and has students that come from low class neighborhoods. Therefore, plenty of us students have families that cannot afford new backpacks and have even been using the same backpack every year. Also, if carrying a mesh backpack on a rainy day will ruin our schoolwork and electronics (chromebooks), personal items,notebooks etc. Security should fo there job and just check our backpacks.

Skyline has a population of around 4,535 students with 7 buildings, 3 gyms, and 3 cafeterias. Which makes me wonder why we only have 5 minutes to go from class to class. The first floor of main building is a one way hallway and the student center is not open for students to walk through, so if a student is coming from the A building to G building, C building to 3rd floor, or even A building to C building they will not make it within 5 minutes. Some teachers do not let you use the restroom during class which means you have to go during passing period and if your classes are from each other they will not make it to the restroom and to class within 5 minute (not to mention the restrooms are usually packed during passing period).The dallas county Covid-19 numbers are getting higher and higher everyday and there is no time for us to social distance and still be on time for class with our crowded hallways. The one way hallway does not help us get to class on time; it slows us down by at least 3 minutes. 

One of our new administrators is an alumni of Skyline and claims he wants us to go back to how Skyline used to be, then let us have our own backpacks, give us 7-10 minutes of transition time, take away the dress code, feed us REAL food, AND STOP TREATING US LIKE PRISONERS. 

I’ve gathered my information for Skyline students and alumni.