In past years, because of the off and on closing of the restrooms, it has sometimes been difficult for LHS students to find open bathrooms, but this should be less of an issue now that the A-wing bathroom is open throughout the school day.
Last year the A-wing bathroom was closed throughout the day, and only open during lunch because students were misusing the area such as smoking and vandalism. These actions led to the C-wing and downstairs D-wing bathrooms to be the only permanently open bathrooms in the school. This did not continue last year, so ultimately Principal Ken Hopkins decided to have it open for the school day.
“We are at the point where students have done a great job and maintained the quality of the bathrooms etc. and we felt it was the time based on student feedback to reopen,” Mr. Hopkins said.
When the A-wing bathrooms closed, it was a struggle for teachers in the A-Wing because they had to send their students to the C or D-Wing, which took much longer. This led to some students simply avoiding asking to use the bathroom. The teachers were pleased to hear the bathroom will now be open all day because their students will not be missing important class time and they know their students are not wandering the halls.
“I really like it because my students do not have to walk across the building and be gone for class, so I love that the students are being rewarded for doing so well last year and that we are doing positive reinforcement,” said English teacher Mrs. DeRiso, who teaches in the upstairs A-wing.
Students were also very surprised to see the bathroom change because of how seriously the administration was about the bathroom closing. Many kids will miss the chance to take a longer walk around the halls while others are excited they do not have to walk so far just to use the lavatory.
“It’s more convenient for the students because we do not have to hike across the school just to use the bathroom,” said sophomore Grace Araujo. We also do not want to skip that much of class, and we are too tired to walk.”
Upstairs D-wing bathroom will remain closed, only opening if there is a teacher on hall duty.
“Upstairs D-wing will never be permanently open because it is in such a remote location and you want to have somebody in proximity,” Mr. Hopkins said.
