The sinks aren’t working, paper towels are gone, soap isn’t stocked and the bathrooms are closed – leading many students to be frustrated about the state of the bathrooms.

Sophomore Oliver Salita said the restrictions have affected him and many of his classmates and is causing frustration with the school.

“There was one day where none of the bathrooms were unlocked. Which really sucked for all the boys,” Salita said. “It’s way too extreme. If you close all of them, where are we supposed to go then?”

The lack of supplies is due to students defacing the bathroom. Principal LaNisha Paddock said getting enough supplies isn’t an issue, but the way students have used them is. 

“There’s not a shortage. We have plenty of supplies. We are just being careful with our supplies because if they disappear we don’t want to replace them and have people misuse them again,” Paddock said. 

According to sophomore Angela Stokes, the way admin is handling the situation is unhygienic, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“They asked us to follow COVID(-19) mandates by washing our hands and staying clean. But it’s hard to fulfill all those things when they don’t supply us with the things we need to do that,” Stokes said.

Paddock said the issue doesn’t just affect students trying to use the bathroom, but also the staff. According to Paddock, fixing the mess students caused is taking time away from teaching, cleaning other areas and supporting students. 

“I spend more time picking up trash from students, which means that I can’t be in classrooms helping teachers and students,” Paddock said. “If our custodians are cleaning up silly and irresponsible choices, they’re not cleaning up hallways and classrooms – meaning classrooms are dirty.”

Sophomore Javier Schimming suggested measures to prevent this issue could be solved in a way that didn’t take away bathroom products. 

“What they’re doing is punishing the whole school for something a couple kids are doing, I can’t even use the toilet,” Schimming said. “They should put better locks on the toilet paper, making it harder for people to steal things.”

Paddock said taking care of the building and being respectful to all the products is the best way to solve the vandalism. 

“It’s a vicious cycle that keeps repeating so if we collectively all do our part to take care of our building and facility we can make it better,” Schimming said.