Period poverty, more than ever, has been a highly pressing issue in our Fremont community, especially with the detrimental effects of the pandemic.

And the Fremont Unified School District is simply not doing enough about it.

We represent two student-lead menstrual equity organizations in the Fremont Unified School District, Students Against Period Poverty as well as Periods for Power. We hope to discuss the importance, and even the necessity of having menstrual products available to FUSD students in school bathrooms.

More than 4 in 5 students (84%) in the US have either missed class time or know someone who missed class time because they did not have access to period products. Providing menstrual products in schools would help with this issue; a pilot program in New York that included having tampon and pad dispensers in ten of its schools showed a 2.4% increase in attendance. 

Not only this, but based on our own research into the preliminary FUSD budget for the 2021-2022 school year, almost twenty percent of students qualified for free and reduced price meals, something we see as an indicator for a need for menstrual products in schools. Given that public input regarding the next year’s proposed budget in regards to underprivileged students is super important, we ask that menstrual product dispensers and products be made available in school bathrooms. 

We’d also like to acknowledge that yes, some schools do have such product dispensers available. However, oftentimes, the dispensers require students to pay for products. Period products are not luxury items, why should students have to pay money to access a product for something that they have no control over? Just like how students are not required to pay for toilet paper or soap in school bathrooms, they should not be required to pay for menstrual products. To add on, as many students have seen, most of the time, such dispensers are not actually stocked with tampons and pads that students need. 

To further this, we also do acknowledge that many schools do keep such menstrual products in the school’s offices or with the school’s administrators. While this may be better than not providing access to menstrual products at all, we must understand that many students often feel ashamed to go to administrators and adults asking for items like tampons and pads. It isn’t fair for students to have to go through such shame every time they need basic necessities, which is why it is imperative we keep such products in our school bathrooms.

To put into perspective how much such a project would cost, one school district, that of Cambridge (Massachusetts) Public Schools (CPS), has said that based on a three year average, the cost of keeping dispensers stocked with menstrual products is around $2.48 per student per year. Looking at the preliminary FUSD budget for the 2021-2022 school year again, we see that the projected total enrollment for grades 9-12 for next year is around 9,955 students. If we are to cut this number in half to estimate the number of menstruators in the district, and calculate the cost of keeping menstrual products in school bathrooms, we see the cost comes out to be a little over $12,300 a year. While this may seem like a large amount, compared to the district’s massive 394 million dollar expenditures this past year, this cost is a small price to pay for the health and dignity of all menstruators. 

Lastly, we would like to note that we have been trying to get in touch with FUSD’s leaders for over a month regarding this issue. We have contacted board members and even the superintendent’s office regarding this issue multiple times, receiving no response. This only highlights to the students of this district how FUSD does not value its menstruators. By remaining silent about this issue, FUSD is actively perpetuating the harmful effects of period stigma and shame. When period products are not provided in the same capacity as toilet paper and other hygienic necessities, the needs of nearly half of the student population are disregarded.

And the power to end period poverty within FUSD starts with you. Start now. Reach out to friends, family, classmates, and more. Spread the news. Let us put widespread menstrual products in bathrooms so that menstruators do not feel overburdened by the stigma surrounding period poverty. Let's ensure that ALL MENSTRUATORS within the Fremont Unified School District will never again have to worry about accessing menstrual products. 

Sincerely,

Students Against Period Poverty (email us at contact@sappusa.org or check out our website www.sappusa.org for more!)           

Periods for Power (periodsforpower@gmail.com)                                                                                                

Feel free to email FUSD Board President Larry Sweeney (lsweeney@fusdk12.net) and Fremont Mayor Lily Mei (lmei@fremont.gov) to get this campaign approved and to END PERIOD POVERTY IN FUSD NOW.

#PeriodPoverty

#HomelessPeriod

#MenstrualEquity