Recently, Santa Barbara High School made a new rule regarding bathroom passes. Different areas of the campus have now been assigned different colors, and students must carry around clipboards in the assigned color to show whether they are staying within the specified area. This rule has many pros, but it does come with a few cons. One pro, for example, is that there are less students wandering the hallways during class time. However, carrying the clipboard to and from each classroom can be very unsanitary, as some people don’t wash their hands well and people from all the different periods are using that same pass. 

I’ve interviewed a few students who have strong opinions on this new rule to see how the student body feels about the color-coded clipboards.

Freshman Hayden Hernandez said, “I don’t really have a problem with the bathroom pass rule because it seems convenient that each section of the school has a separate color so students don’t wander the halls. The only thing that I wish to improve is the clipboard. It seems unnecessary to carry a clipboard with you to the bathroom. Maybe small lanyards with the teacher’s name and the color section you are in would be better.”

Why do the students have to carry around a clipboard instead of a smaller item? Having the clipboard also caused more work for the staff at the school because they had to drill multiple holes into each restroom around campus.

“I don’t like the new bathroom policy. I think it’s very unsanitary and overkill for no reason.”  Clara, a new student at SBHS also added. 

Recently, Santa Barbara High School made a new rule regarding bathroom passes. Different areas of the campus have now been assigned different colors, and students must carry around clipboards in the assigned color to show whether they are staying within the specified area. This rule has many pros, but it does come with a few cons. One pro, for example, is that there are less students wandering the hallways during class time. However, carrying the clipboard to and from each classroom can be very unsanitary, as some people don’t wash their hands well and people from all the different periods are using that same pass. 

I’ve interviewed a few students who have strong opinions on this new rule to see how the student body feels about the color-coded clipboards.

Freshman Hayden Hernandez said, “I don’t really have a problem with the bathroom pass rule because it seems convenient that each section of the school has a separate color so students don’t wander the halls. The only thing that I wish to improve is the clipboard. It seems unnecessary to carry a clipboard with you to the bathroom. Maybe small lanyards with the teacher’s name and the color section you are in would be better.”

Why do the students have to carry around a clipboard instead of a smaller item? Having the clipboard also caused more work for the staff at the school because they had to drill multiple holes into each restroom around campus.

“I don’t like the new bathroom policy. I think it’s very unsanitary and overkill for no reason.”  Clara, a new student at SBHS also added. 

I personally agree with Clara in this case because it is a really excessive rule and it doesn’t need to be like this. Many people, including myself, aren’t familiar enough to navigate the zones. It’s especially hard for freshmen to find the correct bathrooms because we’re not familiar with the campus. What can students do to try and convince the school to change up the bathroom policy?

[Image Credit: Camila Garcia-Otero]