SAN JOSE, Calif. (KRON) - Some parents are upset and frustrated after a San Jose school closed several of its on-campus bathrooms due to students vaping in those areas.
School officials at Willow Glen High School sent an email to parents last week that they temporarily closed some of its bathrooms citing "inappropriate use" of the facilities.
In that letter, school administrators said they were closing the bathrooms so school staff could better monitor students in the fewer open bathrooms.
However, some parents are outraged, saying the whole student body shouldn't be punished for the actions of a few students.
Students at Willow Glen High School in San Jose now have limited access to on-campus restrooms after the school closed several of its bathrooms because of vaping concerns.
“All of the students are being punished because of what a couple of students are doing. It's really really not okay that during a pandemic there isn't soap or sanitizing hand stuff in the bathroom. It's not okay that kids have to use the time that they should be learning and being educated to stand in line for a bathroom,” Michelle Watson said.
Michelle Watson says two of her children go to Willow Glen High School and two others go to Willow Glen Middle School.
She says she first found out about the closures from her daughter.
“I found out when my daughter had an outburst. She's neurodivergent and she had an outburst at school because the bathrooms weren't accessible to her and she wasn't able to use them. Routine is very important for kids with neurodivergent brains and they can't do this to kids,” Watson said.
Watson says she and other parents later received this email from the assistant principal notifying them about bathroom closures in three wings of the school due to "inappropriate use" and were eventually told it's because of students vaping in the bathrooms.
With nearly 1,700 students at the school, Watson's child Kai says bathroom lines are building up because of the closures.
“One time I was almost late for one of my classes because I ended up spending the whole passing period, it's seven minutes, which should be enough time to go to the bathroom and go to class, especially if the bathroom is on the way to the class. I was almost late because there was such a long line for the bathroom,” Kai said.
While school staff claim they haven't had issues with lines, Kai says that's not true.
On another occasion, they missed 15 minutes of class due to waiting in the bathroom line.
“It's frustrating because it feels like they aren't really paying attention to what's going on in the school they're supposed to run,” Kai said.
Meanwhile, Watson's other two students who go to the middle school say the same closures are going on there. However, no email or letter was sent out from staff at the middle school.
In that same letter sent out by staff, they said they are working on other solutions and planned to open some bathrooms back up Monday.
KRON4 also reached out to school staff about this issue but has not heard back yet.
from KRON4 https://ift.tt/3CEppX4
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