Closed Bathrooms Don't Sit Well With Students
Campus restroom complaints initiate new policies to assist the issue.
By Jocelyn Cosgrove
Campus restroom complaints initiate new policies to assist the issue.
By Jocelyn Cosgrove
As of Oct. 30, classroom pass sheets were dispersed to each classroom for teachers to start implementing in their classes to keep track of students' times in the bathroom.
Along with the bathroom sheets, a plaque has been hung in each bathroom to give students the opportunity to notify the office if any of the bathrooms need something changed.
“(It was a) month and a half ago that administration met with the leadership class to discuss some of the bathroom concerns. And they expressed that it was a little bit messy,” said Assistant Principal of Student Services Tim Gavello. “We recently put up signs to, if you go into the restrooms and for example, it needs toilet paper, it's a little bit messy, to inform the office immediately so that we can take care of that and keep them as clean as possible.”
Not only does admin have heard concerns about the bathrooms, students have also expressed they don’t feel as comfortable using the restrooms.
“I don’t normally feel comfortable using the bathrooms at all. During brunch, it is a lot more neat but there are always groups of people occupying the stalls and just standing around in the bathroom and because of this I don’t feel like (I can) comfortably use the bathroom,” said Ashley Luna, 11.
On the other hand, some students, such as Damien Flores, 12, have not felt uncomfortable using the bathroom at any points during the day.
“Yeah, I feel comfortable. I’ve never really encountered an issue with it. I just go and just handle my business and come out,” said Flores.
Physics teacher Colleen McDonough trusts her students to use the time for the bathroom appropriately and feels they do not need an explanation of why they need to excuse themselves from the class.
“They have a right to go to the bathroom or leave the classroom if they need to for a short period of time. They don't need to ask me, they don't need to tell me why, they don't need to give me an explanation,” said McDonough. “And so my bathroom policy is you don't have to ask. And if you need to go to the bathroom, leave the room for a few minutes or whatever, you have to sign out because I'm responsible for your safety during the class period. And you have to leave your cell phone because cell phones don't pee.”
In English teacher Kathleen Quint’s AP Language and Composition class, students were learning about satire and Luna’s group along with juniors Nevaeh Butron and Anoushey Sanhu chose to write their satire about the state of the bathrooms.
“My group and I decided to do the bathrooms for the satire assignment because it is something I’ve always disliked about our school. In all my years of attending this school, the bathrooms have always trashed and filled with people doing stuff,” said Luna.
As the classroom passes are put to use, science teacher Steve Boyd sees the efforts that the admin are putting into making the bathrooms a comfortable space for students.
“I've talked to Mr. Gavello, and I know he's really trying to monitor the bathrooms much more. I know the boys bathroom in the 300 wing is the only bathroom that's closed because they just can't monitor it. That's the bathroom where most stuff happens, but I know I've seen him on multiple occasions standing right outside the bathrooms there,” said Boyd. “So they're doing what they can by just simply being a presence there and monitoring it more. I think a lot of the stuff that was happening was happening during class when they weren't monitored, hence the sign out sheets.”
Along with the bathroom sheets, a plaque has been hung in each bathroom to give students the opportunity to notify the office if any of the bathrooms need something changed.
“(It was a) month and a half ago that administration met with the leadership class to discuss some of the bathroom concerns. And they expressed that it was a little bit messy,” said Assistant Principal of Student Services Tim Gavello. “We recently put up signs to, if you go into the restrooms and for example, it needs toilet paper, it's a little bit messy, to inform the office immediately so that we can take care of that and keep them as clean as possible.”
Not only does admin have heard concerns about the bathrooms, students have also expressed they don’t feel as comfortable using the restrooms.
“I don’t normally feel comfortable using the bathrooms at all. During brunch, it is a lot more neat but there are always groups of people occupying the stalls and just standing around in the bathroom and because of this I don’t feel like (I can) comfortably use the bathroom,” said Ashley Luna, 11.
On the other hand, some students, such as Damien Flores, 12, have not felt uncomfortable using the bathroom at any points during the day.
“Yeah, I feel comfortable. I’ve never really encountered an issue with it. I just go and just handle my business and come out,” said Flores.
Physics teacher Colleen McDonough trusts her students to use the time for the bathroom appropriately and feels they do not need an explanation of why they need to excuse themselves from the class.
“They have a right to go to the bathroom or leave the classroom if they need to for a short period of time. They don't need to ask me, they don't need to tell me why, they don't need to give me an explanation,” said McDonough. “And so my bathroom policy is you don't have to ask. And if you need to go to the bathroom, leave the room for a few minutes or whatever, you have to sign out because I'm responsible for your safety during the class period. And you have to leave your cell phone because cell phones don't pee.”
In English teacher Kathleen Quint’s AP Language and Composition class, students were learning about satire and Luna’s group along with juniors Nevaeh Butron and Anoushey Sanhu chose to write their satire about the state of the bathrooms.
“My group and I decided to do the bathrooms for the satire assignment because it is something I’ve always disliked about our school. In all my years of attending this school, the bathrooms have always trashed and filled with people doing stuff,” said Luna.
As the classroom passes are put to use, science teacher Steve Boyd sees the efforts that the admin are putting into making the bathrooms a comfortable space for students.
“I've talked to Mr. Gavello, and I know he's really trying to monitor the bathrooms much more. I know the boys bathroom in the 300 wing is the only bathroom that's closed because they just can't monitor it. That's the bathroom where most stuff happens, but I know I've seen him on multiple occasions standing right outside the bathrooms there,” said Boyd. “So they're doing what they can by just simply being a presence there and monitoring it more. I think a lot of the stuff that was happening was happening during class when they weren't monitored, hence the sign out sheets.”