Starting in May, administration began closing half of the Skyline bathrooms during the school day. Only one male and one female bathroom are open per floor, with the intent of staunching traffic flow and creating easier maintenance.
The aim of the closures is to keep students in class for longer periods of time. “We wanted to cut down on kids hiding in the bathrooms,” says Tina Trombley, 3rd floor Community Assistant (CA). “Limiting the stall use is making [students] leave faster, keeping them in class for longer.”
It is expected that the policy will be in place until the end of this school year and possibly the next. “It’s kind of a test run to see how it works,” says CA Gary Cooper.
According to the CAs, the policy has been effective. “We have seen a decrease in bathroom traffic and it’s gotten easier to monitor the bathrooms,” says Trombley.
This change was never communicated directly to the students at Skyline. While Trombley says, “I believe it was sent out in the family email,” The Post was unable to locate any mention of a new bathroom policy update within recent weekly family updates.
Contrary to the CA’s statements, students say that bathroom traffic has not decreased. “During the day, it’s hard to get to the restroom in time,” says Leela Aiyagari (‘24). “During passing time, they just get so crowded.”
Teachers and CAs do not report any significant increase in student tardiness due to bathroom traffic, however. “I have not seen an increase in students getting to class late after we locked the bathrooms,” says Cooper.
