Luisa Bernardino

Throughout the week, students have been sighted lining up on front of the bathrooms during passing periods.

This school year, Metea has implemented a new policy that makes most bathrooms unavailable unless a supervisor is present, creating conflicting views among students.

Last year, a survey taken by Metea students and parents concluded that many felt the bathrooms were unsafe. While the Principal Advisory Board (PAB) has been working to find a solution other than locking the bathrooms, little can be done.

“The responses were people saying that what they didn’t like about the school was that they felt unsafe in the bathroom,” PAB member Nora Davidson said.

Because so many said they felt unsafe, Davidson says that when the bathroom is unlocked and open to students, a supervisor must be outside in case there is a problem.

“I think it’s good that we establish new bathroom policies to prevent most [safety issues] from happening,” junior Nathan Mancilla said.

However, junior Ava Hensley states that of the times she has been in the bathroom during passing periods, there have not been any safety issues.

“During passing periods, I have never had a problem [with safety in the bathroom],” Hensley said.

She feels that locking it during these five minutes is unnecessary because passing periods are when most students use the bathroom. Now, students are forced to either find one that may be far away, stand in a long line because everyone is forced to go to the same place, or wait until the freeze is over and are allowed to get a pass from their teacher.

“I can’t go to class and wait ten minutes for a teacher who might not let me go to the bathroom,” Hensley said.

For students who choose to go before class, the five-minute passing periods do not give enough time for them to find an open bathroom (which may be across the school from their class), wait in line, and go to class.

“How am I supposed to know that the D100 bathrooms are unlocked, but the rest are not?” Davidson said.

She believes that it would be helpful for the school to create a list of bathrooms that are open during passing periods to help students find one quicker and potentially make it to class on time.

Overall, the new bathroom policy is being widely discussed at Metea. Some notice that it offers many safety benefits. However, many students, like Hensley, point out that the policy makes using the bathroom much more inconvenient than it should be.