History bathrooms locked during office hours and lunch

This year at Mira Costa, staff and administrators decided to lock the history building’s bathrooms locked during office hours and lunch. What sparked this idea? According to Admin, the closures stem from incidents of inappropriate behavior that occurred last year. However, many students have started to voice concerns about the inconveniences this policy raises.

“I find it really inconvenient that the bathrooms in the history building are locked, especially during office hours. Most of my office hours are spent in the history building since that’s where my AP classes are, and within those 45 minutes, I definitely need to use the restroom at least once. Because the doors are locked, I have to walk all the way to the senior quad, where the line is long or the math and science restrooms, which takes away time that I need to be spending with my teachers, working”, says senior Lexi Scholten.

As previously stated by Scholten, many students spend their office hours in the history building either studying, completing work, or meeting with teachers. During that time, access to restrooms is a practical need. With only 43 minutes available, students aim to use their time productively rather than walking across campus or waiting in long lines, especially when there are functioning restrooms just across the bridge in the history building.

“It’s definitely frustrating to not have open bathrooms in the history building because I always end up there at office hours to speak with my teachers and complete work but I always have to interrupt my conversations to go across campus and use the restroom and it takes away valuable work time”, said senior Noa Sandblom.

However, Mira Costa faculty has expressed concern for inappropriate student behavior in the bathrooms on campus. From vaping to physical alterations between students, admin decided that the only solution to this issue was to lock the bathrooms during student free time.

“Obviously these are valid concerns that administrators should have”, says senior Tara Khaleghian. “However, it definitely is inconvenient to not have available and convenient restrooms during our free periods.”