KEN IGE / KIGE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Castle High teacher Fran Hewes adopted this bathroom near her classroom and redecorated it with curtains, plants and stenciling. Behind Hewes are students Tiffany Cadina, left, Chasity Wills, Nani Kamahoahoa and Cherrelle Halas.INSIDE
Schools are being repaired at an unprecedented rate. Under repair
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Just two of the state's 100-plus high-poverty schools have reached their goals for student achievement four years in a row. We look at a unique program those two schools have in common. Finding a way
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THE STRESS FACTOR
Sometimes you
gotta go but supply
bins are empty
Officials vow more funding for custodial
supplies, and restroom repairs at some
schools garner more respect from studentsBy Susan Essoyan
sessoyan@starbulletin.comTHIRD OF FOUR PARTS Sandy Bishop, a junior at Waipahu High School, is so appalled by the bathrooms at his school that he avoids them and waits until he gets home."It's to the point where I don't use the bathroom anymore in school," he recently wrote in a letter to the Cane Tassel, his school paper. "First of all, there is never any toilet paper. Secondly, the floors are always covered with urine."
Making sure you have enough toilet paper -- or the fortitude to even step into the bathroom -- is part of daily life at some public high schools in Hawaii. The situation reflects broader problems at the schools, part budgetary, part behavioral. Not enough money is allocated for custodial supplies, according to education officials. And a few disruptive kids can make life miserable for the rest.
In some cases, principals have resorted to locking bathrooms to keep them from being trashed or commandeered for smoking or drug use.
"We only have one bathroom open, and it doesn't have soap or paper towels," said Miki Yoshioka, a Hilo High School senior. "It's so unsanitary. All the other bathrooms are locked, so there's a long line. It shouldn't be so hard to go to the bathroom at school."
The Hawaii State Parent Teacher Student Association is asking the Legislature this year to mandate that "clean, sanitary bathrooms including, soap, toilet paper and paper towels" be available every day that school is in session.
State law dictates how many toilets and fixtures must be available, depending on the student population, and dictates that paper towels or hand dryers be provided -- but not toilet paper or soap. But even those minimal requirements are not always met.
Why teaching and learning at Hawaii's public schools can be more difficult than it should be.
The Health Department sent inspectors to check the bathrooms at nearly every school in the state in 2000, and rated virtually all of them as sanitary. Thirty percent of the schools, however, had no soap in any of their bathrooms. Paper towels or hand dryers were in even shorter supply, with 40 percent of bathrooms coming up empty.
More than a dozen schools had locked half or most of their toilets, a policy the Health Department opposes.
"In the last decade or so, the restrooms have become a real problem in the schools, through vandalism and budget cuts," said Brian Choy, sanitation branch program manager for the Health Department. "It's also a reflection of what parents teach their kids about discipline, hygiene and respecting other people's rights to use the restroom."
Still, there are some signs of hope.
The Board of Education has called on schools to work with students to ensure safe, well-maintained restrooms, and students who have spoken up are getting results. Education officials promise to push for more funds for custodial supplies in the coming legislative session. And recent renovations have spruced up restrooms at some schools, commanding more respect from students.
Waialua High SCHOOL started the school year fielding student complaints about no toilet paper or soap. The issue was taken up by the School Community Based Management Council, and the administration agreed to put in more supplies -- on the condition that students not abuse them. Teacher Cynthia Nunes-Taijeron also coordinated a Make a Difference Day campaign to get the bathrooms back in shape.
"We worked really hard to make sure that our bathrooms are fully stocked and that they are clean and safe," Waialua Vice Principal Stephen Schatz said.
"All it takes is trusting the kids and working with the community to develop a plan. We made sure that every bathroom would be checked on a regular basis, and we put it in writing so it would have some longevity," Schatz said.
Money for custodial supplies, a category that covers everything from mops to toilet paper, is especially short this school year. The state allocated $1.3 million to custodial supplies for the state's 283 public schools, less than half of what the Department of Education considers adequate, and a drop from $2.6 million in the last school year. In each of the previous two years, $1.8 million went to custodial supplies, according to state budget figures.
Last year's funding boost came in response to students' concerns. The department projected what it would take to adequately supply the schools -- roughly $3 million -- and managed to obtain more money from the state Legislature. "But that was only a one-time allocation," said Gilbert Chun, head of operations and maintenance for the public schools. "So this year, we're back at square one."
In the 2003-2005 operating budget recently submitted to the Legislature, the department is again seeking $3 million for custodial supplies in each of the next two years for the state's 183,000 students and 20,000 staff in the public schools. That budget is being scrutinized by Gov. Linda Lingle and the Legislature.
Supplies are just part of the problem. Students at some schools say they quickly learn which bathrooms to avoid because their classmates have staked them out for illegal activity. In a large high school, with 2,000 or so students, it is tough for security guards to monitor every bathroom.
"The Board of Education is also asking the schools to set bathroom policies because we recognize that the custodians can put in the supplies, but if the students don't take care of the restroom, it's all for naught," Chun said. "Frequently the schools have to deal with students stuffing toilet paper down the toilets or breaking off the soap containers. So a lot of schools are very wary about putting out the supplies."
Andrea Kelekolio, a junior at Waipahu High School, agreed that students play a big role.
"One small group messes it up for everyone else," she said. "They end up destroying something that everyone needs. It's all about responsibility."
At Castle High School, teacher Fran Hewes got so fed up with the bathroom on her wing being used as smoking den that she took matters in her own hands. She decided to adopt it.
She replaced rusting waste cans, put up mirrors and brought in plants, all bought with her own money. She even stenciled fern decorations on the walls and hung a floral cloth skirt around its long sink.
"People told me I was just wasting my time because the girls are going to trash this," she said.
But Hewes has made a point of visiting the restroom at recess ever since she transformed it more than a year ago. The smokers have not returned, and the other girls keep thanking her for giving them a bathroom they can use.
"If I'd just fixed it up and left it, I think it would have been trashed," she said. "It's too bad someone can't be in every bathroom. Smoke still billows out of the boys' bathroom, but I can't go in there."
She added: "There's no way security can monitor every bathroom. Castle High School is huge."
Renovations at 40 schools last year have brought new bathroom fixtures and partitions to many restrooms, and with them a new attitude for many users. At Radford High School the bathrooms were redone last year and are still in fine shape, according to student Brittany Tabb.
"It's been almost a year, and they have been keeping them up nicely," Tabb said.
At Waianae High School, thanks to a campuswide renovation, the bathrooms are in good condition, but students usually have to request keys from security guards to use them.
State Sen. Norman Sakamoto, Education Committee chairman, said students deserve adequate supplies and access to toilets, and he would like to "increase their ability to be part of the solution."
"What if the student council were responsible for the dollars for bathroom supplies?" he said. "Would we see better results?"
Restroom abuse normally does not show up until kids hit their teens, but attitudes can be instilled early.
When he was a principal at Noelani Elementary School, Clayton Fujie had an effective solution for children who made a mess of the bathroom. He would ask permission from the parents and then have the student work with the custodial staff to clean things up.
"We're teaching them ownership, that this is our school and that it's everyone's responsibility to take care of it," he said. "It's not just the custodian's job."
Fujie, now deputy superintendent for all the public schools, would like that attitude to take hold systemwide. He acknowledged, however, that it may be tougher to identify the culprits, and compel cooperation, when they are teenagers.
State Department of Education
