CHERRY TWP — Community members expressed concern over a no-backpack rule instituted at Moniteau Jr./Sr. High School a few years ago that was reintroduced after the pandemic.

The rule was implemented for safety concerns, administrators said at a meeting Monday, Aug. 28.

The 2023-24 Moniteau Jr./Sr. High School student handbook states that students are not permitted to carry backpacks during the school day.

Once students have entered the building, the bag must be placed in their locker and remain there until dismissal. Students are able to visit their lockers between classes to grab whatever belongings they may need for their next class.

Superintendent Aubrie Schnelle said Monday that the rule is not new and had been in place for several years before she was hired in 2021. She said it was based on a state police safety recommendation.

Stephanie Chapman, a Butler High School graduate and mother of a high school student in the Moniteau district, said the rule impedes female students’ ability to discreetly and comfortably carry feminine hygiene products.

Schnelle answered that students are welcome to carry purses that would allow them to carry feminine hygiene products. Other administrators added that teachers would not discipline students for asking to go to the bathroom and would work through any concerns regarding the no-backpack rule with both students and faculty.

Chapman also expressed that without backpacks to help carry their supplies, students walking to and from classes could knock over each other’s folders, books and electronics, potentially damaging school laptops. She added that she questioned the effectiveness of the rule in preventing they carrying of weapons or drugs.

Justin Grossman, a Moniteau graduate who said he had worked for 17 years in the CIA, expressed similar concerns.

Dustin Thompson, co-principal of student affairs, said metal detectors should diminish the threat of a school shooting, but that the district needs to be redundant when it comes to safety procedures.

“If this layer fails, this covers it,” Thompson said.