Samohi students say they’d rather ‘hold it’ than use facilities
Despite the stink raised last year over the dirty bathrooms at Santa Monica High School, students on Wednesday said the situation hasn’t improved.
“I just went to the bathroom and they still suck just as much,” said Samohi junior Dan Miller. “Evidently, nobody knows how to flush — and their aim is horrible. It gets to the point where I’d rather be in serious pain, holding it, than use the bathroom during school.”
The bathrooms have for years drawn fire from students and parents, who complain stall locks are broken, graffiti is painted on the walls, soap and paper towels are absent, and feces regularly adorn the walls.
Prompted into action by a string of stink bomb attacks, concerned parents in February of 2002 formed a task force to focus on the bathrooms at Samohi. They said they wouldn’t rest until the administration kept the bathrooms well-stocked and cleaned every day.
Administrators said Wednesday they are working toward that goal but admitted there is plenty of room for improvement. House principal Greg Runyon, who oversees the school’s facilities, said the school is short two custodians this year because of budget cuts, leaving only two during the day and eight at night.
“Is it where I want it to be? No. Could it be better? Yes. Could the students help? Absolutely,” said Runyon, who added that he will meet with parents and his custodial staff today to discuss the issue.
“Is it where I want it to be? No. Could it be better? Yes. Could the students help? Absolutely.” — — GREG RUNYON House principal, Samohi
Runyon said the goal is to clean all 17 student bathrooms thoroughly each night but sometimes the custodians have to hurry to get done on time and occasionally one bathroom slips through the cracks or doesn’t get the attention it deserves. He also said that although the bathrooms are almost always in good shape when the first school bell rings in the morning, by the end of the day they’re sometimes filthy.
Inese Verzemnieks, the task force leader and the Parent Teacher Student Association’s vice president of health and safety, said the basic requirement is that there be soap and toilet paper in every bathroom. Without those necessities, students won’t feel respected and can’t be expected to care for the bathrooms, Verzemnieks said.
A random check of five boys’ bathrooms by the Daily Press on Wednesday showed some improvement over last year. While there was no soap in three of the bathrooms, all five were unlocked and four of the bathrooms had toilet paper. The biggest problem appeared to be graffiti adorning the doors and mirrors. There also were piles of tissue and toilet seat covers on bathroom floors and in toilets.
Last March, a similar poll by the Daily Press found that many of the bathrooms were locked before the end of the day because students had urinated on the floor. Once allowed inside a bathroom by a custodian, it was discovered the bathroom was marred heavily with graffiti and litter had been left in toilets.
But despite the apparent progress, parent groups, administrators and students say there is still a lot of work to be done. And while the school address the issue, some students are feeling queasy over the state of the bathrooms.
“They’re still pretty filthy,” said Samohi sophomore Kasey Perkins. “There’s, like, piss all around, Kleenex that’s thrown around. It’s just really, really messed up.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 2, 2003. Read the original PDF.