Students say they're fed up with bathroom policy at Columbus' Whetstone High School

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- According to Whetstone High School students, using the bathroom has become a difficult feat.

Freshman Nora Hardesty said the bathrooms at the Columbus City Schools (CCS) high school are dirty, mirrorless and frequently locked. She said those that are open require students to wait in long lines under teacher supervision, and students are fed up.

"Today, I had to use the bathroom so bad and my teacher gave me permission to go run there real quick and all of them were locked," Hardesty said. "I had to wait 10 whole minutes to use the bathroom, I was on the verge of peeing myself. That's a basic human right, like, you can't not let me go to the bathroom, especially when it's an emergency."

CCS maintains the policy is for student safety, citing reports of fights at Whetstone last year in the restrooms. CCS Media Relations Coordinator Tyler Carter said there are still options for students, explaining one primary bathroom is closed for repairs, but students have access to another main restroom during breaks.

"And if they need to use the restroom during class, they can get a hall pass from their teacher to use an individual bathroom, which can be unlocked by a school staff member," Carter said.

Carter said the single-use restrooms are locked for student safety and because they were previously not used for all students. But Whetstone students reported this requires tracking down staff to unlock them or standing in lines, sometimes stretching over a dozen students long.

Nearly a dozen Whetstone students reached out to NBC4 about the policy, which they called unhygienic and detrimental to learning. Students said the handful of stalls were not enough for the school's enrollment, which the Ohio Department of Education lists at 1,027. 

One said some teachers limit how many times a student can ask to use the restroom per month or quarter, so if they are still waiting when class ends, they have wasted an opportunity. Another said students who get periods often bleed through their clothing because they are unable to access the restrooms when they need to.

“As a female student, I’ve had to leave school because of bleeding through my clothes and have had issues with having to use the restroom and being told no or having to stand in a very long line,” sophomore Tegan Arthur said.

Arthur’s mother, Kimberlyn Brantingham, said she’s reached out to school administrators and the school board without a response. Brantingham said students are told to go to the nurse but are then given menstrual products they cannot use given a lack of access.

“My main concern as a parent is access to clean restrooms and access to education. It seems that we can’t have both,” Brantingham said. “Having to come to the school to take her to a fast-food restaurant to use the restroom and then returning her to school for the remainder of the day is not appropriate.“

Junior Natty Van Bibber said the time between class periods was extended from three minutes to four this year to allow students to use the restroom, but when he tried, he often was unable to get into the facilities.

"I don’t bring water or any liquid because if I drink it, I know I will have to use the bathroom and the chances are it will be locked," Van Bibber said.

Junior Saphir Mwamba Mukendi said the issue is so prevalent for students, it is entering classrooms.

"We are currently doing a group project tackling an issue in the community," Mwamba Mukendi said. "My group chose the restroom policy and how it often takes away educational class time from students."

Both Mwamba Mukendi and Hardesty said the current policy bars students from using the bathroom in the first or last 10 minutes of their 45-minute class periods. Each classroom has only one hall pass to distribute and, with wait times, Hardesty said only two students per period are typically able to go.

They said those who could go missed sizable chunks of class time, and explained waiting for lunch or the larger facility is no better.

"There's three stalls in them but there's no air circulation whatsoever in there, so its always so hot and the smell is radioactive," Hardesty said. "It's always so crowded and during lunch the lines are crazy, like not even kidding over 15 girls waiting in a line. It's horrible."

Carter said the policy has been in place for more than a year.