Community Opinions on New Bathrooms

As of this year, the old public bathrooms at Long Beach High School have been replaced by new gender-neutral bathrooms, which feature a single room instead of the more traditional stalls. These new restrooms have caused a divide between students at Long Beach High School. There are many different opinions around the school on how people feel about the new gender-neutral stalls, causing such a controversy that some students made petitions to stop the construction of these bathrooms on change.org which had almost 600 signatures.

The bathrooms have received mixed opinions from students and faculty. People complain that they are always dirty, need more amenities kept in the rooms, and should have higher quality feminine products. However, students can appreciate the safety of the judgment-free zone and privacy the single-stall restrooms bring.

We talked with several students and faculty members about their opinions on the new bathrooms, as both groups have to use them. Madison Brandt, a sophomore here at LBHS told us that “the new bathrooms are interesting but every time I use them they’re never clean. However, I like the privacy it gives, though sometimes it feels a bit claustrophobic.” In general, the floors tend to be wet and dirty, but the privacy is well appreciated, said another student, agreeing, “I like it better than before because you get your own space and people don't stare anymore when [someone] actually use[s] the bathroom.”

Matthew McCaffery, a junior, noted that the bathrooms were very plain. “I like them being individual but they should add cute decorations or anything to make them look less boring,” he told us. The hallways in the rest of the school are covered with murals done by students who take IB Art. Students wish to see the added color and style in the bathroom hall.

Many students have complained about the wait to have a hall monitor unlock the stalls and the uncomfortable constant supervision. The wait for a hall monitor to unlock a restroom, especially in the cafeterias, tends to be longer than the wait in previous years, and the limited number of rooms restricts how many students can go to the bathroom at a time. Even first-year students here at the high school have complaints about the new restroom and its policies. A group of anonymous freshmen agreed that they “love them but wished they were open after school.”

We also had time to gather opinions from Long Beach High School’s faculty members. Mr. Stankard, a Social Studies teacher who has worked here for eleven years, told us that he was “surprised at how nice they were, but I'd like to see paper towels and not just a dryer in there.” Whatever stance you have on the bathrooms, they are here to stay. Some issues like wait times and cleanliness will need to be addressed over time, and many students are enjoying the increased privacy the new bathrooms bring. It may take time to get used to a new experience, but overall, students and teachers both appreciate the effort to improve the high school environment.