Update: As of today, the previously closed bathrooms have since re-opened. At the time of this story’s writing, they had not.

If students in the new wing have to visit the restroom, they have a different experience depending on whether they need to use the boys’ or girls’ bathroom. Both the boys’ bathrooms in the new wing–upstairs and downstairs have been out of order for over a month due to students breaking down and messing up parts in the bathrooms, according to Mr. Ivan Johnson, assistant principal.

The new bathrooms “are super nice [and] the mirror is super great for taking pictures,” Magy Soto, senior, said. ‘And the toilets are newer, so you don’t have to touch them…because they have sensors to know when to flush.”

For boys, it becomes inconvenient and time consuming to go out of the way, into a different building, just to use the bathroom, especially for those attending AP or DE classes, where constant attention is needed to stay caught up. “When both top and bottom bathrooms are messed up, because …[the ]plumbing or the students mess it up, it’s kind of annoying. The gym bathrooms could be locked too, so we have to go all the way to the lunch room, and miss probably like ten or twenty minutes of class.” said junior Andrew Pointdexter.

It takes 40 seconds to get from room 726, the journalism classroom, to the new bathroom at a regular walking pace, 2 minutes and 20 seconds to the gym lobby (which is sometimes locked), and 2 minutes and 40 seconds total to get to the the closest bathroom in upper Quander.

“It’s detrimental. I can’t use the bathroom when I want.” said junior Jimmy Schull.  “I can’t relieve myself. I have to walk halfway across the building to use the bathroom.”

It’s  unknown as to when they might be repaired, “It’s taken a while because of the parts that need to come in. Sometimes it takes a week. Sometimes it’s two or three months. So we don’t know. Once we get those parts, we’ll be ready to repair them. It’s all new construction so it takes a while,” Mr. Johnson said

The boys bathrooms in the new wing are just a small portion of how poorly the students at West Po have been utilizing their environment. Mr. Johnson emphasizes that students should take more pride in our school. “This is our school. It’s not just for the custodians that clean up. It’s for everyone to take pride in. If everyone takes pride in their school, then won’t have to worry about shutting down bathrooms.”