Are your high school restrooms open and available to students on every floor?

Do you have enough toilet paper, soap and paper towels in your school?

If the answer is no, do something about it! YEA members organized for two years to improve the condition of DC public school restrooms. We mobilized hundreds of students to demand sanitary, fully stocked and fully repaired bathrooms, and inspected every bathroom in 12 public high schools. We presented a report of our inspections to the Board of Education and they passed the Clean Schools Initiative in June of 2004 to improve bathroom conditions. The Initiative calls for:

• Access to restrooms on every floor
• Student surveys to be done three times a year on bathroom conditions
• Higher cleaning standards
• Maintenance academy so custodial staff can be trained on bathroom repairs
• Protection of custodial supplies from budget cuts

If your restrooms are locked, let your principal know that she/he is not in compliance with the Clean Schools Initiative and that students have a right to restrooms on every floor. If you don’t have enough supplies or your school restrooms need repairs, call Cornell Brown, Director of the Office of Facilities Management, at 202-576-7718.

Clean, open, functioning restrooms are an issue of health and respect. Organize students, teachers or parents at your school to demand that the resolution be implemented!