For Loy Norrix students, it’s no surprise when attempting to use the restroom to find the closest one covered in messes, locked, or vandalized. Public bathrooms in restaurants, grocery stores, or even that last-second gas station are in better condition.
For those new to the building, the state of the bathrooms may be shocking.
“They’re usually pretty gross,” said junior Sofia Bogard, “and they’re usually missing a lot of stuff.”
The missing supplies are vital for students to have access. Toilet paper and soap are non-negotiables.
Bogard frequents the J-wing bathrooms, referring to them as the cleanest in the school. The J-wing is separated from the rest of the school, isolated from the usual busyness the rest of the bathrooms may experience. Due to this and the fact that they are frequently used during sporting events, they are stocked and cleaned more often.
Others have a different opinion when it comes to the bathrooms. Some argue that the issue is more with the run-down nature of the facilities rather than the cleanliness.
“I think they are generally pretty clean. The problem is that a lot of the stalls and doors are broken,” said sophomore Grayson Landau, “but it never really is that dirty.”
One thing students can agree on is that the supplies are often lacking. It’s not uncommon to find that the soap and paper towel dispensers are empty or the stalls are missing toilet paper.
“Sometimes there isn’t toilet paper or soap. I’d say like half the time it’s fully stocked,” said Landau.
This issue is much bigger than a simple lack of supplies. Students vandalizing and wasting paper or soap happens frequently, and you can find the missing supplies on the floors, walls and even clogging the sinks.
The dirty nature of the bathrooms isn’t the only thing that plagues students. For many weeks now, both the men’s and women’s K-wing bathrooms have been locked, with hand-written “out of order” signs posted on the doors.
Many students question why exactly the bathrooms are closed so often and the answer varies from usual wear and tear to purposeful destruction committed by students. For instance, in the K-wing restrooms, the cause was student-made.
“Students broke them [the K-wing bathrooms],” said Assistant Principal Andrew Muysenberg. “We’ve been waiting for them to be fixed.”
When students decide to vandalize the bathrooms, the school must report it to the janitorial facilities, which will begin repairing the damages. The issue of when the bathrooms will be restored is in the hands of facilities which must assess the damages, order parts and then begin the repairs.
“When students break things, there’s a time frame and we have to wait for parts and services to get done,” said Muysenberg.
This time frame is not just unknown to the students, the administrators often aren’t sure when the bathrooms will be repaired and back in working order since they rely on an outside source to complete the repairs.
In the meantime, if the closest bathroom to a student is locked, students are advised to find the next closest restroom available and use that.
The problem at hand with the bathrooms is an ever-growing one, one that does not solely lie in the hands of the administration, but in the students who choose to destroy the public facilities.