Albuquerque Public Schools adopt clear backpack policy to enhance safety

On Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2025, Albuquerque Public Schools implemented its clear backpack policy at five of its middle schools to enhance safety and security measures following Taylor Middle School in northwest Albuquerque. APS held its conference at Cleveland Middle School to discuss the district’s initiative involving guns confiscated on school grounds throughout the years. MORE: Concerns raised with trends of guns found in Albuquerque Public SchoolsAccording to APS, 10 guns have been confiscated on APS school grounds in the 2025-2026 school year. In the 2024-2025 school year, 14 guns were confiscated. Q&A regarding the possibility of metal detectors, concealed weapons detection scanners and implementation of school safety policies are below.”Today is our first day of the spring semester for students, and we are at Cleveland Middle School to announce a new initiative that five of our middle schools are launching this semester. They are implementing a new policy that will require all backpacks brought onto school property by students to be cleared. Clear backpacks will make it tougher for students to conceal things that they shouldn’t have, like weapons,” APS Superintendent Dr. Blakey said.Related: Safety upgrades for Albuquerque Public Schools to halt guns on campus”Our instructional councils at each of these schools decided to move forward with this initiative to enhance the safety and security at their school. They made the decision after reviewing the results of surveys that were taken by their students, their families, and their staff to assist families with the new requirements at these schools,” Dr. Blakey said. List of schools includes:Wilson Middle SchoolKennedy Middle SchoolHayes Middle SchoolWashington Middle SchoolCleveland Middle SchoolOn Tuesday, the district also distributed thousands of free clear backpacks to students, in an effort to assist families with its new requirement. According to APS, Del Norte High School will launch its clear backpack policy in August 2026. “We have invested more than $60 million on fencing, cameras, and alarms to access secure vestibules and other safety infrastructure at our schools. That includes installing commercial heavy-duty locks at all 6900 classrooms in the district to allow staff to lock doors from inside,” APS Deputy Superintendent Dr. Antonio Gonzales said.”We also have the ability to share live camera footage at school sites with local law enforcement. The crisis alert system is available at all of our schools. The system allows APS staff to summon help from anywhere on campus at the push of a button. APS employees at schools have a crisis alert badge that they can use to alert campus officials to an emergency or, in the event of a serious safety threat, to notify APS police and activate Alice protocols,” Gonzales added.Metal Detector | Weapons Detection Scanner Faith Egbuonu: You guys have made strides. That’s awesome. I also see improvements that you’ve made since she’s (Dr. Blakey) stepped in. So, I will give you that. I know a year ago, in 2024, three months before you took over, we did a one-on-one, and I asked you about your plans on school safety and stated your plans, but I also brought up the possibility of metal detectors. I also asked the former APS superintendent, and we understood concerns with that. But there are now certain schools that have implemented a concealed weapon detection scanner. It’s similar to a metal detector, but not quite. Have you guys thought about the possibility, given the concerns that you all have about metal detectors?Related: Cleveland High launches concealed weapons detectorAPS Superintendent Dr. Blakey: Thank you. Everything is still on the table because we’re doing anything we can that really helps our students feel safe at school. The priority is really that our staff and students feel safe when they’re at school so that they can do their best teaching. We can have our students do their best learning. So, that’s why this type of surveys we do for our staff and our students is really important before we implement anything, because we want to make sure that what we’re doing is really impacting the feeling of safety that students have. Metal detectors have had mixed reviews. They’re extremely expensive. We continue to look at them. Rio Rancho has them at one school, but not both of their schools— because we look at different, even districts around us, and what we can learn from best practices.So, nothing is really off the table. There are cameras that we’re also looking at, which I think is what you’re referring to, that has AI built into it that can detect, and we are looking into those as well. With technology, we’re also lucky in this time that it’s always adapting. So, even a metal detector now is very different from what it was 3 or 4 years ago.What cameras can do now with AI is also really different. We’re looking at all of those things. Faith Egbuonu: Are those surveys for parents? Dr. Blakey: Yes. Egbuonu: Okay. The reason why I asked about the metal detectors because those are concerns that parents bring to us over the years.Dr. Blakey: I think addressing violence in the community and schools are part of our community. So, anything that we can do to really help our community feel safe is something that we’re looking at.Martin Salazar | Senior Director of Communications: Just to add to that. I know there’s a perception that metal detectors are a way to go to keep campuses safe. They are not foolproof there. I tell reporters this all the time. There was actually situation at a high school in Phoenix, I think it was, at the beginning of the school year, where a school had a metal detector and a kid still managed to get a knife through and fatally stabbed eight classmates.Egbuonu: That’s why I brought up the possibility of concealed weapon detector scanners, because that’s the new thing. It’s similar to a metal detector, but not quite a metal detector. Also, some schools in New Mexico implemented it already. Surveys | Implementation of safety policiesDaniel Espinosa| Photojournalist: How often will the surveys be sent out to the schools? One year, they say no. The next year, they might say yes. And is that the only implementation right now for how you’ll get those answers? I’m sure all of us heard about West Mesa and the amount of incidents that happened last year. Will the district ever just kind take oversight? Like, hey, it’s a recurring issue. We’re going to implement it.’ Or do you still want to keep that relationship to between the staff? Dr. Blakey: It’s really important that a school takes ownership of their school in something that they’re implementing, because they’re the ones that have to implement it and what works best for their school. We will as a district, support any school. If they want to give the survey tomorrow, we would, you know, give them access to it. We can help them with it. We would provide the backpacks as well. I think with any large initiative, it always takes— ‘who are the trailblazers that want to kind of try it out first?’ Like, Taylor was, and so now there’s the other schools that I’m sure people will come now to Cleveland and say, ‘Oh, how’s it working? And sometimes people aren’t really comfortable being the first, but I really trust the teachers at the school to make that decision when they feel it’s right for them. Egbuonu: To follow up with our photojournalist Daniel’s question, because I think it’s a good question. West Mesa, year after year, there are guns found on that campus. I know you stated it’s dependent on the surveys and the school’s implementation, but I think the concern with certain schools in particular is, what is it going to take? Forget the survey. At some point, are you, or the district is going to be, like, “You know, the school is problem,” West Mesa is problem all the time. Why would we need to wait for survey for certain schools that are causing concerns year-round? Dr. Blakey: I think because it is a layered approach. And what one approach of clear backpacks might work really well for one school, for another school, it might be something different. So, we work really closely with West Mesa.It might be that they’ve had the DA come to this school, they have the violence intervention program at their school. So, it might be a different type of solution that they need at their school. It’s really important that the Instructional council and the teachers have a say in it, because clear backpacks might not be the answer for every school. They might need a different type of support. Egbuonu: They need more.Dr. Blakey: Yeah. So with that, we are always working with the school principals and the schools and our police department to really tailor for specific schools what they need.Egbuonu: Does APS plan to expand the policy for all schools through the district eventually?Dr. Blakey: We will support any school that wants to implement it.Stay updated on the latest news updates with the KOAT app. Download here