EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

Problem: Current bathroom pass rules are wreaking havoc on the Sherwood student body.

We are petitioning the Sherwood Administration to:

-Revise current hall pass situations (removal of ALL ten minute policies, etc...)

-Open locked bathrooms

-Remove bathroom time constraints

-Make the current hall pass regime less onerous and oppressive 

Sherwood High School has recently put in place new bathroom regulations, worsening previous circumstances. At Sherwood, no student is permitted to go to the restrooms during the first ten minutes of class, nor the last ten minutes of class. When a student has to leave the classroom, they are required to attain a pass given by a teacher. In addition, a bathroom trip exceeding a period of 10 minutes can be marked as an unexcused absence. With this in mind, the majority of the bathrooms at Sherwood are closed and locked up for reasons unknown to students; this makes finding an available bathroom a challenge and results in crowded bathrooms.

There are many issues caused by these new rules and regulations. In an article for the Warrior newspaper, sophomore Ben Schoenberg explains that “this lack of bathrooms has inconvenienced many students. Students are forced to use different bathrooms that are in most cases further away. This, at times, may lead the student to be late to class or waste class time” (Schoenberg). Another female student at Sherwood exclaims that she “should not have to miss around ten minutes of class just to find an unlocked bathroom!” and it's sad the search takes so long. Finding an open bathroom is very time-consuming, and the longevity of it was not allotted in the decision to make the pass system. Another Sherwood student emphasizes that now that there are time restraints on restroom usage, inconvenient walks to restrooms with “long lines and no toilet paper are unacceptable."

Not only are the ten-minute time restraints a huge concern for students trying to relieve themselves, but students say the mere act of attaining a pass is incredibly difficult. With the new regulations disallowing bathroom usage during the usual time of light to no instruction in classes (the first and last ten minutes of class), many students feel that they are disturbing class instruction when asking for a pass. Sherwood student Milo Dowling explains that it is inconvenient and tiring for students “having to interrupt class to ask for a bathroom pass every time [they need] to leave the room,” and places a large emphasis that the teacher signed pass system “disrupts the learning environment."

School teachers and administrators have explained that students can make bathroom trips in between classes, but according to students, this is far from realistic.  Todd Klinger, a Junior at Sherwood High School describes how he was constantly late for class “because [he] had to go to the bathroom, but it would be locked.” As a result, Todd “would have to search around the school to find a non-locked bathroom.” To worsen this, Todd adds that “these non-locked bathrooms seem to be quite crowded.” Having to run across the school to find an open bathroom, and for a student to having to wait in line to use it, then be forced to run across the school to their next class, cannot be done in a mere five minutes in between classes. Sophomore Liam Trump explains that when using the bathroom at Sherwood, “I have to wait at least a few minutes if I want to use a stall. This time wasted waiting for a stall can make it so I’m late to class if I’m going to the bathroom in between periods.”

Finally another female student shares that “I am very unhappy with the current state of bathroom usage at this school. It is sad to me that if I have four tests in a row and classes that aren’t right next to each other, I cannot use the bathroom, even if it is an emergency, without losing time to take my exams. It saddens me that uncontrollable feminine hygiene care is not seen as a viable reason to go to the bathroom when I physically have to. It seems that although the school expects us to act like adults, we are given fewer bathroom rights than elementary school children.”

To keep this issue brief, Sherwood High School students are saddened by the lack of compassion given by the school administration. Using the bathroom is not a privilege for students, and it should not be treated like one; using the bathroom is a bodily function that all human beings are entitled to (and at some points, they cannot control). Bathroom usage is being wrongly restricted to keep hallway walkers in class, but this issue could simply be fixed by giving individual detentions to the hallway dandlers instead of punishing over one thousand students and inconveniencing an entire team of staff.

Thank you in advance for signing this petition, you are greatly appreciated.

Ben Schoenberg’s article for the Warrior Newspaper on Bathroom Closures

Access the Article Here

Thank you to all who contributed quotes!