Bathrooms closed at lunch

The bathrooms on the second and third floors are now locked during 5A and 5B lunches due to a new bathroom policy that began at the start of the second quarter, according to security guard Adrian Kelly. Building service and security workers implemented the new policy due to security shortages.

SGA President senior Alex Bae held a meeting with Principal Darryl Williams on Monday concerning the changes to the policy. Williams voiced his support of having the bathrooms open and fully functional in the near future and is taking steps towards this goal. "We've spoken to the admin about it and they're in complete agreement with us on the issue, so I trust the policy will make its way through in good time," Bae said.

Kelly maintained that the new policy is necessary, as the second and third floors are short on security during lunch time. "The majority of students hang in Blair Boulevard, and we are focused on keeping kids on school grounds," he said. "We have a shortage of security."

Blair staff speculated that vandalism and student abuse of bathroom privileges have also prompted security to introduce the new policy. "Most bathrooms are vandalized during lunch," Building Services Manager Yakubu Agbonselobho said. Economics teacher Brian Hinkle believes that the vandalism led to the new policy. "Supposedly, certain things have taken place like vandalism," he said. "So, they lock them up during lunch."

Custodian Marianne Christopher also noted that some students skip class in the bathroom. "A lot of kids hide out in there," she said. Security team leader Cedric Boatman declined to comment on other reasons for the new policy.

Contrary to informal policy requirements, second and third floor bathrooms are sometimes locked throughout regular class periods. "A lot of my kids complain, because they have to go to the bathroom," Hinkle said. Christopher, who locks the bathrooms, emphasized that the policy only requires building service workers to lock the bathrooms during lunch hours. "I open them 20 minutes after 12 [p.m.]," she said.