Recently, ECISD has mandated that for the following 2025-2026 school year, transparent backpacks will be mandatory for all students across the high school and middle school campuses. Students be forced to choose two of the following options: they could either buy an expensive backpack labelled as "heavy-duty" which are not guaranteed to last throughout the school year, or they could buy cheap backpacks that are guaranteed to break throughout the year. This doesn't even include families who already bought backpacks that aren't plastic. As a result, families will be forced to spend money, despite some of these families not having enough to provide for themselves already. Moreover, this also affects students in various ways. For instance, girls in high school and middle school who need to have space for products regarding menstruation, as well as spare clothes in case of emergencies. This also affects students in extracurriculars, such as UIL, fine arts, etc. UIL and fine arts students need the security and space that come with regular backpacks in order to hold all of their necessary papers and materials, with plastic backpacks those students lack that security and space.
If we're able to change this policy, we could potentially save families from overspending on these plastic backpacks and they're able to instead use that money for more important things. More importantly, students will be happier as a result of preventing this policy from taking full effect. After speaking with a few students from Edinburg North, it's very clear that most students are unhappy with this change and believe that there are better alternatives to provide safety for students without the need to make students buy cheap bags.
Right now is the time to act. We still have a few weeks before the beginning of the school year, and if this act of protest is able to reach the district board, we could see change before the year begins and not have to invest in such low-quality bags.