Students and parents urged the Akron Public School Board on Sept. 8 to reverse a newly announced restriction at Firestone High School that bans metal and other non-clear water bottles, saying the change interferes with hydration and harms students with medical needs.

During public comment, which drew multiple students from Firestone, speakers described the rule as a sudden amendment communicated to families over the weekend and enforced at school the following day. “This policy places an unneeded burden on students seeking to meet their daily hydration needs, especially students with acute health needs,” one student told the board, saying two students he spoke with rely on bottles under a 504 plan.

Board members acknowledged receipt of emails and public comment. Member Reverend Harrison said the board had heard the students.

Student petition and medical concerns

Students said they collected about 250 signatures opposing the ban. Commenters said some peers who rely on frequent water intake either had to buy single-use plastic bottles or could not find suitable clear insulated bottles; others said the policy increased line time and tardiness. One student who rides a bicycle described arriving late to class because of screening lines and said accumulated tardies risked academic harm.

Several speakers challenged the district’s safety rationale. Carys Field, a senior at Firestone, said staff remove caps to inspect stainless-steel bottles and that an administrator spilled water during an inspection. “If staff did not feel the need to open every single water bottle, the spillage would not have happened,” she told the board. Field also noted that staff and teachers apparently are still permitted stainless-steel bottles, which students said undercuts the stated safety concern.

Operational and equity concerns

Speakers raised operational burdens on custodial staff from increased single‑use bottles, questioned why other everyday items that could be misused are not banned, and asked the district to consider students who need insulated bottles for medical reasons. Parents and students said building administrators could not provide incident counts showing metal bottles had been used as weapons and said the principal told them staff do not track such incidents specifically.

District response and next steps

In board remarks following public comment, Reverend Harrison acknowledged that board members had received emails on the matter and said the board heard the students’ concerns. No formal action or vote on the policy was recorded in the meeting minutes for Sept. 8. The superintendent and building administrators were mentioned as the offices to which the board would refer follow-up items.

Why it matters

Students and parents framed the policy as both a health and equity issue: students with medical needs, students who bike to school and those who cannot afford repeated single-use bottles are most affected. Commenters also argued the policy raises environmental concerns because it increases single-use plastic use.

What the transcript confirms

The transcript records multiple public comments (students and parents) opposing the water-bottle restriction at Firestone, a student petition of approximately 250 signatures, student reports of tardies and increased line time, and a board acknowledgement that it had received emails and heard the comments. The transcript does not record a board vote or a formal policy amendment enacted by the board at that meeting.