A Breakdown of the Deering Bathroom Dilemma

By Avery Stone

Tuesday, March 10, 2026

Recently, the issue of the bathrooms at Deering has been receiving a lot of attention from both students and faculty members alike. Various concerns have been raised around the conditions of the restrooms and potential solutions going forward, but one question remains, what is going on with the bathrooms at Deering and why? 

The quest for an open stall

For some, the current problems with the restrooms are present before they even step through the threshold. “...every time it came time to use the bathroom, it became like this strange quest where I knew I was going to be out of the room for an inordinate amount of time locating the one bathroom that was open,” says 12th grade student, Zach Lee, when recalling his experience using the bathrooms at Deering last semester. “I could always reliably know that the..all the unisex bathrooms on the first floor would be full, and so I’d have to go all the way up to the third floor one. And even once I got there, I wasn’t sure I was really gonna be able to use it because…oftentimes there were people being rowdy, and it just didn't feel like a comfortable place to actually use the bathroom.” 

The environment of the bathrooms was also noted by 9th grader, Lia Griswold. “I would say that lately the bathroom[s] seem to be dirtier, and definitely more crowded.” 

The disarray 

A lack of cleanliness was a common theme amongst the responses of those interviewed. “There seem to be paper towels all over the floor. People aren’t flushing the toilets and there’s like big chunks of braids and hair in the sink,” Griswold stated. 

Social studies teacher, Mary Nance expressed that she prefers using the staff bathrooms as opposed to the student restrooms. 

 “...They’re usually locked or they’re usually really messy,” she explained. 

Locks were also a problem observed by Zach Lee. “I think one of the big things is the locks on the doors not working..I think at one point…one of the stalls didn’t even have a door,” said Lee. 

Defacement and vandalism is also an issue currently facing the Deering bathrooms. When asked about a rumor regarding students ripping the urinal dividers off of the walls of the boy’s bathrooms, Deering’s assistant principal, Carlie Frederick, confirmed that there have been cases of vandalism. She went on to say that they often have to hire outside contractors to make repairs, or order costly replacement parts that take a while to be delivered. 

The Cause 

“Honestly I think it's because of the Yonder pouches. Kids aren't allowed to have their phones outside the bathroom, and so they're doing all their fun activities that they used to do in classrooms like in the bathroom and it's making it a lot dirtier,” said Griswold. 

“I think it's people who aren’t going to class and without an attendance policy I think that it's hard to hold people accountable,” offered Ms. Nance. 

“I think there's a big problem of people wanting to get out of class, you know, be rowdy in the bathrooms,” shared Lee, who goes on to express his frustration with the school administration’s way of addressing the problem.  “…This is affecting people who aren't the ones actually causing the problem… The response just doesn't match the issue.”

The conclusion among the members of the Deering community who shared their experiences seems to be that the source of the bathroom dilemma lies with the students, but with a clearer understanding of the issue at hand, an end may soon be in sight. 

Bathroom Chaos & How It’s Damaging Student Success 

By Marley Rodriguez

Tuesday, March 10, 2026

Whether it’s vaping, skipping class, fights, or vandalization, Deering students across all grades are struggling to properly utilize their school bathrooms, making accessibility a challenge to all throughout the scheduled school day. The issue has worsened over the span of two years, with significant effects impacting overall student success rates.

At Deering and across the U.S., there has been a significant increase in irresponsible use of school bathrooms, making those not contributing to the matter face the consequences from their peers' actions. Administration has made slight advances to combat the issue at Deering such as the closure of bathrooms, as well as having a bathroom monitor during scheduled blocks. However, it is not just the overcrowding of the bathrooms that is the issue, but more so how it’s changing students' pathways to succeeding at a high school level. With multiple key team leaders stepping down, there has not been a solidified power source to look to in Deering High School since the 2023-2024 school year. The process of creating not only an efficient but effective determination of how to put forward policy that prompts change would start with finding a solution to benefit the students, Ms. Nance a teacher at DHS suggested, “having a future about attendance policy ... I know the admin's doing more with the lunch detention,” Ms. Noor also included powerful insight stating, “We missed the older students doing a lot of the role modeling. Follow what other students tell them to do, and if they don’t have that positive connection, those positive role models, and they’re more likely to engage in behavior that isn’t good for them.”

At DHS, there has not been any official guidelines set into place to terminate the issue fully to better the students and teachers perspectives. Asmaa and Ayann Abdi, grades 11 and 12, have faced unfair compensation throughout the staggering process. “I literally just walk in and right back around,” according to Ayan. Asmaa jumped in exclaiming, “In the beginning, it was a small group, not that many kids, .., and so when you came in, they wouldn’t stare at you and make you feel like you shouldn’t be in there. But now it's like so many people- at least 10 people at once, and it’s kinda smoky in there … they don’t even open the window, so if I do, they all look at me like I’m not just trying to go to the bathroom, honestly,” Asmaa proclaimed. The two were frustrated with the uncertainty the school has shown, in regards to rule making. The students' perspectives are valuable apart from the teachers as educators, who don’t have the same level of understanding. In response to adaptations throughout the school day disrupting learning, the two similarly answered “..you have to re-route, and now you have to go to the basement, now you have to go to the third floor, because the basement is also really full.” 

The fact that the students who aren’t overutilizing the bathrooms are having something taken away from their classroom experience solidifies that the student impact is immense, no matter what position you're coming from. To fully paint the facts of the matter, I also got the opportunity to speak with teachers. Halima Noor and Mary. Nance, both with varying experiences as educators, firstly ask them what their responses have been thus far. Ms. Noor first noted that although this is the first year back to teaching for her, “.. in the past two years we have definitely seen students struggling to attend classes on time, and that definitely adds to their ability to be successful in that class.” The lens described by Ms. Noor emphasizes the shift that has been visible, even considering her return to teaching this school year. She also expressed in response to a question regarding how the administration has handled trying to solve the dilemma, “I think that can be hard for students, but Ms. Noors was never a fan of closing bathrooms. That’s what ends up happening if it doesn’t stop the problem. All this does is actually put a spotlight on the issue, so even if students never knew the bathrooms were being used inappropriately, now they do- now it’s kind of being advertised like this is a problem area.” Noor asserts. “So students who don’t want to be involved in the problems are going to avoid going to the bathroom, as students who are looking for problems now know, ‘oh, that's a space I can get up to shenanigans. I don’t agree with bathroom closure ever.” Ms. Noor’s room is located near the stairs that lead to the gender neutral bathrooms, so she’s had students in class reportedly using bathrooms to a great extent, as well as other students who pass by on their way down. She made a candid point about her leadership as an assistant principal in the 2023-2024’ school year, professing “..So my first year I think we had a little more control of the situation with the bathrooms but there wasn’t much of an issue of kids utilizing bathrooms for any nefarious reasons,” and even stating how students have “...got to get the upperclassman to connect heavily with the freshman class to help guide them. That could then make a big difference in behavior, actually.”

At larger schools across the country, such as in New York City, where the student population is nearly triple that of Deering’s 850 student population, administration has been following similar steps as DHS has, like closure of bathrooms and even a signout sheet, similar to our Orange Pass system. Similarly to the local situation, at Midwood High School in Brooklyn, only more push back has resulted as the administration has implemented weak rules to fix a massive problem. Students noted that every day going to the bathroom came along with a “journey” or “trek” to finding an open stall or one not filled by foggy smoke, according to Isabella Mason & Bernie Carmona, of Midwood and Beacon High School, in their School issued paper “The Bell”. 

Ultimately, Ms. Nance had a very vivid experience as the gender neutral bathrooms are set directly across from her classroom. As I did with Ms. Noor I asked Ms. Nance her experience and what she said may sound familiar to many, “I’ll end up sending a g-chat or calling down admin to kind of take care of it, especially when I’m teaching,” pausing she also added, “And then obviously when it’s an emergency- which there have been multiple times, a fight or something that breaks out it’s just kind of just intervening when you can.” Her expertise has cooled down hot spots before, but a teacher who isn’t meant to be hall monitoring or going the extra mile to ensure safety for all cannot simply do it all. I then asked the question of how often the disturbance has disrupted her class. Ms. Nance reacted in a very telling way, directly saying, “Oh, every single day. In every single one of my blocks, there is something going on. And not to put the blame on anyone, but yeah, there are constantly students who skip class and hang out, and I see the same ones.” The turmoil seems as though a solid, continuous cycle has been created, and since it’s been standing for this long so far, it’s hard to just jump to a solution, where students' voices are not only heard, but heavily considered in actual decision-making, not a policy that is unbalanced from what the average student may experience. The buzz is everywhere about the bathroom situation here at DHS, and even Ms. Nance’s sophomore advisory has stated their frustration with the perpetual unsolved problem. Finally, I queried Ms. Nance on the future and her take on how effectively the current administration has attempted to eliminate the problem to that she responded, “..when you close a bathroom you are cutting students off from using it and then they have to go somewhere else and then they bump into a friend along the way, whether their intentions are positive or not, it’s still longer time out of class if they can’t go to the one right on their floor.” To conclude our conversation, Ms. Nance left on this note: “The ball really needs to be back in the students' court of what we want to see and what's going to be the one school we want to maintain.” All one school is one of the largest parts of our community at DHS, and seemingly, the responses gathered show an eclectic perspective all within the same four walls.

Throughout the construction of this story, the initiative is to spread awareness about the action that needs to be taken, not to slander students or teachers, but to give students the opportunity to advocate for themselves along with their peers. I believe there is room to grow and evolve over time, and an immediate change may be challenging, but a plan geared towards students' benefit and on their terms, along with educators, is highly achievable over time.  

The Critical Situation of the Boys' Bathrooms

By Afonso De Jesus

Tuesday, March 10, 2026

The boys' bathroom at Deering High School has become chaotic since last year, where the use of e-cigarettes and vandalism by students have replaced privacy and the need to use the bathroom with a meeting point, a place where they can do whatever they want, smoke, vape, fight, skip class, spend time talking with friends, cut hair and other things.

 Elias Salomano is a student from Deering high school and he's a senior. When asked what he thought about the boys bathroom from Deering High School he says the students do whatever they want in there. Elias added that the school doesn't have good infrastructure to organize the bathrooms, something breaks or gets damaged every day.

DHS senior Ernesto Ndobas said that when the students are at home using the bathroom, they don't throw paper on the floor, they don't break the bathroom door, and they don't completely soil the bathroom. They keep the bathroom clean all the time. So why do they can't do the same thing at school, keep the bathroom clean, and not break things? This would be amazing if students were doing those things.

As a reporter I have experienced the several critical situations of the boys' bathroom  from Deering High School. I've seen students using the bathroom as if it were a nightclub or a place to do inappropriate things like smoking, fighting, skipping classes, and cutting hair. 

For this bathroom situation l expect that  the students need to bring the same education that they have at home to clean and not to throw the paper on the floor, not to break things. If they're respectful, I think this bathroom situation will improve.