When Oliver Ames students walked into their first day this year, they were shocked at all of the closed bathroom doors they were faced with. When walking around the halls, they noticed there was only one open bathroom per floor. A morning announcement confirmed that until further notice, students would only be able to use one bathroom per floor, as well as the integration of a stricter pass system.
Students were just as upset as they were confused. The confusion turned to annoyance as students dealt with the change for a few months.
“I think that it’s kind of inconvenient, because if you have to go to the bathroom and it’s on like, the other side of the building, it takes you longer to get there, even though teachers want you to get back quick,” said Kiera Deehan, a junior.
The inconvenience doesn’t seem to phase Mrs. Tantillo, an English teacher whose classroom is directly across the hall from the 2nd floor bathrooms. She is willing to wait five minutes to keep students safe.
“I do think there were kids last year who truly felt that the bathroom is not a safe place. There were a lot of things going on in there that did make them feel uncomfortable or unsafe. Overall, I think it’s a good policy. I know we’re not gonna be able to stop people from bringing things in there, I mean, vapes are tiny.”
As a voluntary bathroom monitor, Mrs. Tantillo is not naive to the fact that this policy will fix all issues. Neither is Vice Principal Ms. Neely, who led the introduction of this policy during her first time back here at OA.
“We understand that no single system works for everyone, and we are committed to gathering feedback from our school community to continue refining the process. Our hope is to strike a balance between student needs and school-wide safety.”
Some students disagree with her argument of needing safety, as not many students seemed to feel the presence of a threat before the policy was instated.
“No, not really, because I never felt unsafe in the first place, you know? I just kinda felt like it was just better to have more options. I feel like it didn’t change much, to be honest. I feel like there’s nothing but lines outside the bathroom stalls now, and we didn’t have that before.” said Bethany Morgan, a junior.
Finding a balance between the safety of students and something that works for everybody in the building is a difficult task, but with student feedback, admin is working hard to find a system that works best.
“This is a living procedure, and our ultimate goal is for students to use the facilities respectfully and responsibly, which would allow us to ease these current restrictions.” said Ms. Neely
