Parents complain children are forgoing winter coats without access to lockers; Carson City school district cites safety issues

Students in Carson City who attend Carson and Eagle Valley Middle Schools aren’t allowed lockers, which some parents say is causing students to forgo bringing winter jackets to school altogether.

However, the district says that since locker usage was discontinued due to COVID-19, there have been less instances of locker-related accidents and less time spent outside the classroom. Plus, they argue: students no longer need lockers the way they used to.

Under current dress codes at both middle schools in Carson City, jackets and coats may not be worn inside school buildings. But without access to lockers, parents are asking where their students are expected to keep their necessary winter outerwear.

Office administrators have told parents their children can leave their jackets at the office, but with nearly 2,000 students between both schools, it doesn't seem to be a logistically possible solution.

Carson City resident Kathie Vaughan has a grandchild attending one of the middle schools, and she believes many students are simply no longer bringing coats or jackets to school because they have nowhere to put them.

While lockers were discontinued due to COVID, most other regulations such as masking have been lifted, except the locker ban.

“They are still not allowed to have lockers to put jackets, books or binders into,” Vaughan said. “Several students will not wear jackets to school because there's no room in their backpacks to put a jacket.”

Vaughan said that when she learned students were not allowed to have lockers at school, she contacted administration and was told students are free to leave their jackets at the front office.

“Can you imagine if all 775 students at Eagle Valley left their jackets in the office?” Vaughan said. “What a mess.”

At Eagle Valley Middle School, students are not permitted to wear their jackets inside the building — regardless of the temperature or snowy conditions outside. Only fleece sweatshirts are permitted under the current school dress code policy.

But there are options for students available, said Carson City School District's Dan Davis, like carrying the coats or tying them to their backpacks.

"Students can wear coats and jackets to school," Davis said. "They are not allowed to wear them indoors but are permitted to carry them with them."

Students have a quick 4-minute transition period between classes, Davis continued.

"With teaming, students are now spending approximately 80 percent of their time in classes that are located within 20 steps of each other, thus reducing the amount of walking and time carrying their backpacks. Students can carry their coats or tie them to their backpacks, if there is not adequate space. Students can also place coats on seatbacks once in the classroom, if necessary, just as one might do when going to dinner at a restaurant in cold weather."

However, many students appear to be leaving their winter weather gear behind instead of opting to carry them throughout the day, which parents say could be dangerous for students who walk to or from school in snowy conditions.

In addition, students are given a 30 minute lunch break. After they have finished their lunch, students are asked to go outside so the next grade level can eat.

However, Davis said, if a student "truly does want to stay inside during lunch recess, they can remain in the lunchroom as long as good behavior is exhibited."

While leaving coats at the office or carrying them with them might be a solution for some, Vaughan stated many parents are also concerned with their students carrying the weight of their backpacks, athletic bags for sports, and band equipment all at once.

“(Their backpacks) have to weight over 25 pounds, or close to that,” Vaughan said. “16 ounces of water weighs a pound, then they all have laptops, their planners, binders, any books they carry. And this is all day long.”

However, the district stated that in the time since lockers were discontinued for students, they have seen many positive outcomes.

After the use of lockers were discontinued due to COVID-19, the district said they saw immediate positives: there were less traffic jams in hallways as students got into their lockers, there were decreases in tardiness and time spent out of the classroom.

“There was a significant loss for instruction time with lockers,” Davis said. “Kids kept having to leave the classroom to get things from their lockers, increasing the time spent out of the classroom.”

Lockers were also a safety issue, Davis said, and discontinuing their usage has eliminated locker-related injuries and issues.

“We don’t always know what they’re storing in the lockers,” Davis said. “There’s less of a safety issue when students aren’t gathering in the hallways. If there’s a traffic jam, there will be shoving, or a student getting — unintentionally — hit by someone else’s locker door.”

When it comes to concerns of students carrying around heavy backpacks, the district believes it’s not an issue.

“It’s not the way it once was, lugging heavy textbooks for each class,” Davis said. “Now, students are only bringing their Chromebook, a three ring binder with notes from class, a pencil box, any reading assignments would most likely be a small book from their English class, a cold lunch if they’re bringing one, a phone, and any small personal items or hygiene items.”

In addition, Davis said, students are taught and shown how to reduce the amount of weight and items in backpacks during their advisory class.

As far as extracurriculars go, Davis says there are already storage areas for those items. Band students can leave their instruments in the band room, and there are lockers and storage areas specifically for P.E. and athletic equipment.

However, when it comes to coats and jackets, the only option seems to be what Vaughan was told herself: students can carry them, or leave them at the office.

However, with 1,100 students at Carson Middle School, and 775 at Eagle Valley, if every student brought a coat or jacket to school to leave at the office, the results could be an organizational nightmare for both students and staff members alike.

The only real option for students appears to be carrying them, which many students appear to be opting out of.

"Hopefully these clarifications or further explanations on lockers and winter jackets will help parents and families better understand student expectations and why they are in place," said Davis. "Our school principals and leaders are doing everything to ensure the health and wellbeing of each child who attends school. When questions or conflicts arise surrounding school decisions or procedures, we encourage parents or families to have conversations with their child’s school leaders. In many cases, some students may interpret differently the school’s recommendations of how to manage their personal items or apparel or do not adequately communicate those expectations with their parents or families."

At this time, the district has no plans to re-issue lockers to middle school students again.