Havre High sets limits on backpacks

It's 3:29 p.m. at Havre High School and the hallways are pretty much empty. In a minute, hundreds of students will spill out of their classrooms, in a mad rush to wrap up another day of learning.

A minute later, the bell rings.

Classes end, doors swing open and 680 teenagers flood the halls. Some stop to chat with friends or cuddle with a boyfriend or girlfriend, but most head straight to their lockers to fill their backpacks with a night's work.

The backpack is the educational toolbox many students at Havre High use to haul books, supplies, food and just about anything else during their four-...