Effects and reasoning of the new bathroom locking policy
Students use bathroom passes designated only for specific bathrooms. Printed on the passes are the bathrooms for which they can be used.
September 20, 2022
Palatine High School students are facing sporadic bathroom closure causing increased frustration for students and staff.
After last year’s events of complete closure of all bathrooms, students’ cooperation with new policies and staff has become harder.
“I don’t see why I have to go so far to use the bathroom,” Palatine High School senior Ishika Mishra said.
Students like Mishra have gone to use the bathroom and found them locked. With the new color coated pass policy and increased supervision in the hallways, traveling to another bathroom has become more difficult as students will be stopped more frequently.
“It’s hard to control them [students] because you don’t want to deprive anybody of the opportunity [to use the bathroom ],” student supervisor Tom Dilillo said. “I’d be the first one to say, I’ll listen to anything if someone’s got a better idea.”
Tom, along with all the student supervisors, gets his objectives directly from administration. Administration gives the student supervisors the criteria and they’re expected to implement them.
“It’s frustrating always having to lock,” Tom said. “They [students] deserve to enjoy coming to school”
As much as school should be a positive environment for students, they also must feel and be safe no matter the sacrifice. Safety of students and staff is the utmost priority.
“Safety over convenience,” assistant principal Christopher Cirrincione said. “A lot of times people like convenience, but the priority is safety.”
The last few years, especially with COVID-19, have necessitated different procedures that otherwise wouldn’t have been needed. However, safety issues have become prevalent and the administration has made it a priority to ensure safety at Palatine.
“The reason lunch was so open last year was because of COVID,” Cirrincione said.”Now that those restrictions are not in place, we’re going back to pre-COVID times.”
As Palatine High School continues the transition back to “normal,” safety of the students in staff will be the priority over the convenience of the closest bathroom.
