On Oct. 4, head principal Andrew Neely informed teachers and staff of a new bathroom policy that will be in place, effective immediately. 

“There are too many issues with students not using the bathroom for its intended purpose,” Neely said. “I asked the custodians to give us door props to open the exterior [bathroom] doors.” 

Two major issues have caused this change. 

“Vapes are the biggest issue. Before there were vapes, there were cigarettes. Cigarettes were harder to hide and the stench would follow. It wasn’t hard to find out if a student was smoking,” Neely said. “Honestly, when I first started, you may have had [an instance of a student smoking] maybe two or three times a school year. Now, the vape sensors are going off between 15-20 times a day.”

Students who are found in the bathroom when the sensors go off will be searched; however, vaping isn’t the only issue that has called for a change of policy.

“Class cuts are another issue,” Neely said. “There are more students that are avoiding classes, and they try to find a place to hide out.” 

Due to these issues, teachers have been asked to be more diligent and cautious when it comes to bathroom duties. Monitors should pay close attention to student behavior which has changed from last year to the beginning of this year.

“There’s definitely more students that are avoiding classes, and they try to find a place to hide out. That’s not new, but it’s definitely more than when I started as a principal,” Neely said. “I did see a difference from last year and this year when it came to vapes. Our numbers have actually gone down this school year. When you compare the month of September from last school year to this school year, the number is lower. I wasn’t expecting that when I saw that, but it is encouraging. So I think it’s still not where it needs to be, but [we’re] making some progress.”

The new policies are subject to change as the school year progresses. If bathroom issues proceed to get worse, Neely intends to have all bathrooms closed during class changes. 

“Unfortunately, we’re still seeing too many students congregate, causing problems in the bathrooms. If things don’t improve, we’re going to be closing the bathrooms between classes. We’re not there yet. But it could happen,” Neely said. 

Neely feels it is important to have not just teachers and other staff members be on guard but also other students. 

“There are only five principals, two security officers and there’s about 160 teachers. So you add that all up, we’re still under 170 which is less than a tenth of how many students we have,” Neely said. “We hope that students will hold each other accountable. If you don’t like the idea that the bathroom doors are propped open, if you don’t like the idea that you have to question whether you want to go into a certain bathroom because of behaviors that might be happening or just don’t want to deal with it—students can help by policing themselves and getting the attention of an adult if something isn’t right. That helps us, and I can assure you we address everything.”

Neely thinks it’s important students feel safe in restrooms.

“Every student who goes to school here has a right to a clean and orderly bathroom. We all have to use the restrooms at different points, and I hate the thought of anyone feeling like they aren’t able to use the bathroom because they don’t want to get mixed up with what’s happening in there,” Neely said.