Concerns over school washrooms in Anglophone East have been raised by members of the District Education Council.
Several members stated that upgrades and repairs need to be done because thy are outdated.
Angela Lawson says they are hearing concerns from a lot of schools, to the point that some students says they refuse to use them, “They are a target place for bullying. Kids can see into the bathroom stalls where other students are, they’re not locking. There’s no hot water, the soap dispensers are broken. The list goes on and on. I’m appalled at the state of our bathrooms and I would like to see a project of some sort done to remedy this. The fact that students are bringing this up again, after not hearing it for awhile and now we’re hearing it again. Students should be able to go to the washroom and have privacy, be able to do proper hygiene and we’re hearing they are not.”
Director of Finance Aubrey Kirkpatrick pushed back a bit, stating if there are maintenance issues there is a process and funds in place and the District needs to be made aware, “No bathroom should have doors that don’t lock. No bathroom should have water that doesn’t run. These are all things that are addressed as they come. We have a process and money to fix those things, and not as capital projects. We need to know, if that is happening in a particular school, there is a process to requisition that and get that work done.”
DEC members have asked senior members of staff to investigate this issue and report back for next month’s meeting in June.
