On Castaic’s campus, only three out of the five outdoor restrooms have been open for students since the beginning of the last school year. Bathroom closures were originally due to vandalization, but now they remain closed because of the school’s limited campus supervisors. 

Last year, restrooms were closed as a repercussion of the infamous “devious lick” TikTok challenge, which inspired students across the US to vandalize their schools’ bathrooms. Castaic High School’s Principal, Mr.Ferry, shares that this is no longer the case.

“I wanna make sure I have the right amount of bathrooms open for you guys,” said Mr. Ferry in an interview. The Principal explained that while only 1,200 students currently attend the school, the campus was built for a capacity of 2,500 students. Castaic High School has the proper amount of supervisors for the student body, however, because our school isn’t at total capacity yet there are not enough supervisors to watch over each bathroom. For this reason, the bathrooms will remain closed for the foreseeable future. 

Mr. Ferry’s main priority is safety. He wants to ensure that students “feel safe going into the bathrooms at Castaic High School.”

However, some students feel differently about the bathroom closures.

 “I don’t like having to walk across the campus to the only bathroom that’s open,” says Jonah Wilson, a senior on campus. 

Many girls have reported that the bathrooms have long lines due to overcrowding during passing periods, brunch, and lunch. 

“The bathrooms are always so crowded now because some people just go in there to hang out and it’s unfair to those that actually need to use the bathroom and none of the other bathrooms are open,” says Katie Lien, a junior on campus. 

Because our school isn’t at total capacity yet there are not enough supervisors to watch over each bathroom. For this reason, the bathrooms will remain closed for the foreseeable future. 

Even though the chances of more bathrooms opening up are unattainable right now, perhaps the solution is more convenient bathrooms. Each time a student uses the restroom during class in the largest building on campus (the 200s), they have to spend time commuting to the nearest restroom which can be 5 to 7 minutes away from instructional time. 

“Since the 200s bathrooms are closed, the commute from the 200s building to the other bathrooms can be very long. Especially during class when we are supposed to be quick, it can be difficult to walk across campus back and forth in a short amount of time,” says Kristen Catterson, a student on campus. 

Since the majority of student traffic centers around the first staircase to the 200s buildings, many students would be able to access the 200s bathroom more easily. 

“The 200s bathroom should be open because durning brunch, lunch and especially passing periods the other bathroom(s) get too crowded. Sometimes the line gets long enough that we don’t have time to use the bathroom during passing periods,” says Emily Cammarata, a senior on campus. 

In order to gain the privilege of the 200s restroom, though, students have to prove they’re mature enough to respect school property. 

The bottom line is, students should keep the restrooms clean for themselves and for their peers. If students want the administration to entertain the idea of opening up the 200s bathroom, they will need to demonstrate that they are responsible enough.