Einstein's Bathrooms Are Closed, But Why?

By Jocelyn Kay

At the start of the 2024-2025 school year, MCPS added doors to school bathrooms, citing safety reasons. While the doors are important in case of an emergency, Einstein has started locking them, limiting student access to the bathrooms. 

Using the bathroom is a human right. Einstein is strict on students leaving class, but by limiting access to the bathroom, they create issues with when students are allowed to go. Every day, one of the three bathrooms on the main level is locked, and the main street bathroom is closely monitored. This creates issues for students who truly wish to use the bathroom, rather than just roam the halls. Security often enforces bathroom removal between periods and does not allow students to remain in the bathroom even for valid reasons. This prevents students from going between classes, and the rules with passes and specific teacher approval make it hard for students to go during class. During lunch, the bathrooms are overcrowded and form long lines. So when can students use the bathroom? If the bathrooms are locked and monitored like this, it makes it almost impossible to use them during the school day. 

Currently, three bathrooms are locked in Einstein: one by the cafeteria, the auditorium bathroom, and the girls' bathroom on the catwalk. The girls' bathroom on the catwalk was closed for repairs over a month ago and recently reopened after many weeks locked. Neither the cafeteria nor the auditorium bathrooms have been open during the day for the entire school year.

The school expects that every student who is in one of the stalls is skipping class, which is very untrue. Often, students are kicked out while using the restroom for its intended purpose, which defeats the purpose of having a bathroom entirely if they are not allowed to be used. The hygiene within the working bathrooms has also decreased when the extra bathrooms are locked. The girls' bathroom on Main Street often has no or limited soap, and no paper towels, while the boys' bathroom has switched to only air dryers due to a lack of paper towels, and rarely has soap. These ongoing issues are perpetuated by the influx of students created by the locked bathrooms.