By Eileen Persike, Editor.

In a letter to parents on the School District of Rhinelander website Friday morning, high school Principal David Ditzler outlined several upcoming changes at RHS. One of those changes is that students will be required to keep backpacks in lockers during the school day, and carry their necessary books and supplies to class.

“The reasons for this are classroom safety and student health,” Ditzler writes. “Backpacks sit on the floor in classrooms and block the normal flow of walking around the classroom. Also, many students choose to carry every one of their books in their back packs, creating a very heavy pack that gets shouldered.”

Young people carrying heavy backpacks, often filled with all of their school books, has been a noted concern of health professionals.

Ditzler stated that an additional reason for not having backbacks during the day is that all students will be carrying a Chromebook to class. Last year Chromebooks were assigned to 9th and 10th grade students.

“The majority of the damage to Chromebooks comes from students not being careful with their back pack after the Chromebook is placed inside,” according to the principal. “If Chromebooks are packed for home and students only have to get on the bus or the car, I believe that we will see far less damage to the Chromebooks this year.”