Student bathrooms to recieve overhaul in the near future

 

Every high school has its fair share of student complaints, and Massapequa High School is no exception. One of the biggest—and most prominent—problems is the state of the restrooms.

“What we’re looking to do is to totally refit the student bathrooms in the high school… it’s going to be a complete gut and redoing new fixtures and tile and floor, so everything,” Director of Facilities Mr. Timothy O’Donnell said.

The district voted for the bathrooms being redone “in 2014, [when] the district went out for a $35.7 million bond and as part of that bond, bathroom renovations just for the high school were included,” Mr. O’Donnell added.

The budget for this project is an anticipated $1,050,000 for the 14 student bathrooms.  

One major issue many students had with the bathrooms were how, in most notably the first floor girls room, the stalls are not fixed when broken. In the first floor girls bathroom alone there was one working stall with one stall being out of order for at least three months and another with a non-closing door.

This caused major issues during class when a line would form because students could only use one stall. While the boys bathrooms are not in the greatest condition, it is far better than the girls room. However, some stalls don’t close and the windows on the first and second floors are bolted shut, creating heat during the summer months.

“The amount of heat stored in the bathroom because the windows are bolted shut and the heaters are constantly on, not to mention how hot the water from the faucets are all the time, those are the main problems,” senior Dominick Faber said.  

“I’m happy that the bathrooms are getting fixed, I hope that they are much cleaner and I also hope that the bathrooms are more private, like a European style bathroom,” junior Thomas Finston said.

Many students feel that a European style bathroom is the right move for the school. This style offers more privacy with no gap between the stall door and the wall. “

The school has also decided that new paint colors should be included in the bathrooms. The girls room is currently pink while the boys is green. “Word art” has also been talked about to make the bathrooms more attractive.

“Instead of doing just a painted wall in the bathroom, I wanna do something different. I would love to have these glass or plastic frames hung on the wall, and then have the ability to put art or great messages in them. We could do different themes for them and rotate the art according to the theme each month,” Principal Mr. Patrick DiClemente said.

Another issue with the bathrooms students have noticed are the lines you have to wait on to get inside. Many students want to go to the bathroom quickly and return to class, therefore many complain about hall monitors because they don’t like how they have them wait outside if the bathroom is full.

“I would love to come to a place where we didn’t need to have a monitor outside the bathroom. However its important because we once had a student who was ill and passed out in there. The monitor realized the person was in there for awhile and checked in, that’s the one positive of having a monitor there,” Mr. DiClemente said.

Another possible addition would be smoke detectors to catch kids that vape in the bathrooms. With vaping becoming an ongoing problem, not to mention bad for one’s health, the detectors would send a message to school officials and allow them to stop the student.

Minus the graduating seniors, the student body will get to enjoy these new bathrooms in the future.

“Right now we’re waiting on permits from New York State [NYS] , so every project that we do in the district, once we have the plans, we have to send those up to NYS, SED [State Education Department]… hopefully we’ll have some permits mid-to-late summer, then we’ll be bidding it out and hopefully we’ll be starting sometime during next school year,” Mr. O’Donnell said.

Overall, many students are thrilled over the long awaited bathroom renovations. Students have much to look forward to with bathrooms that will be fully functioning and contain newer appliances. They will also be more private and may include new artwork to help make it look more appealing.

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