A recent uptick in vandalism within UC High’s bathrooms has forced mass closures of student bathroom facilities around campus, preventing students from accessing and using them.
UC High Principal Mike Paredes commented on the closures: “Most recently, we shut down the 200 West boys restroom because there was a bunch of vandalism. So our custodial crew used the week that we shut it down to scrub the floor, scrub the ceilings, remove any signs of graffiti in the restrooms, and do a deep cleaning of the drains. They completely replaced and repaired a door and wiped down spit that was stuck on some of the windows; it was disgusting. To be honest, it was hard for the custodians to keep up with the cleaning every single day, so shutting it down was necessary. Providing a clean space hopefully made it clear to the students that these bathrooms can be clean, if we all just work together.”
Paredes continued, “Keeping it real, it has been very frustrating to see how messy our bathrooms are getting. Lots of times we will see toilet paper on the ground, trash all over the place, broken items, and that’s the part that’s been frustrating.”
“The one thing I would add is that this isn’t every student. It is just a small group of students. Most kids in our school want to have a clean restroom. They also don’t want to go into a restroom where there is vaping going on,” added Parades.
“We have a whole custodial team that is working to maintain a clean campus. For administrators, anytime we are out doing supervision, we try to model an example of picking up trash. We also notify our custodial team about it, but it is everybody’s job on campus to keep it clean,” Paredes said.
Plant Operations Supervisor Jack Weaver said, “When the products that we freely provide get abused and stuffed down in the toilets, clogging them, it is beyond our ability to deal with it. I have to wait for a district plumber to come out here. Plumbers have already been cut back before this fiscal year, and there are over 220 sites in the district dealing with issues like this.”
According to Weaver, “It’s really up to the students if they want the restrooms open. If they stop playing around in there, taking sinks off the wall, and breaking things, they get to use the restrooms. All that stuff can’t be fixed in a day. I have to wait for materials before I can make repairs, and if I’m waiting, you’re waiting. I’ll be honest, it doesn’t matter to me. I have my own restroom, and I keep it nice. If the kids want to continue breaking that stuff, it’s going to take time to get it fixed. And there’s nothing I can do about it. The policy is, if it’s broken, we can’t use it.”
Senior Kevin Lopez said, “The other day, I saw someone take out the whole soap dispenser. People are going to continue breaking things, and vaping.”
“I think the bathrooms are being closed due to the students having illegal substances. The constant closures are a nuisance for students and teachers to deal with. I’ll walk to the bathroom only to see that it is closed. Then I have to go across campus to find one that’s open,” said Senior Kari Bauer.
According to Bauer, “They wouldn’t have to close the bathrooms if people didn’t trash them. I hate trying to find other bathrooms that are open. It really annoys me when I have stuff to do in my classes.”