Welcome back Holyoke High for the 2024-2025 school year. It’s that time of the year again! New year, new school right? Well not entirely, some things have remained the same, one of those things being the bathrooms at Holyoke High School. Although the bathrooms have stayed the same, the bathroom pass policy is what changed. In essence, the new pass system only allows three visits to the bathrooms a day and the bathrooms being closed right when you need them. This is not to mention the other more physical issues of the bathrooms for example missing mirrors, faulty stall locks, consistently empty soap dispensers, stall structure spacing, and the bathrooms being all locked when you need them most.

The pass policy is the ultimate decision the admin has come up with to curb students who use the bathrooms to skip their classes and smoke. The quality of life concerning bathrooms has arguably declined from last year for some students in just the first week, causing frustration among them.

Several students have expressed their thoughts on the matter, such thoughts vary.

“The old pass system is better because it’s easier to use and there’s less worry about losing it. The new one is just stupid because it stretches out the duration of the pass for the whole week. What if you lose the pass? What if you have internal issues? The old passes were not perfect, yeah they had issues, but the new ones are just worse. The old pass makes it easier for students unlike this new pass.“ Said 12th Grader, Nathan Jusino 

“There should just be more unlocked bathrooms because why do I have to walk from the third floor to the second floor just to use the bathroom? It takes longer to walk all the way to the second floor than if I was to just go to the third floor.” Said 12th Grader, Jayvah Stuckey

On the contrary, 12th grader Yandiel Rivera Troche said “I don’t see the point in opening up new bathrooms, no one ever needs to use the bathroom multiple times within a class period or even periods, the students brought this upon themselves, the only people to blame is us.“

Staff’s thoughts on the matter were also vocalized.

“I hate them. I get they’re trying to limit the students from skipping but I think it’s just not working.” Said Early College Coordinator, Mrs. Barreto.

Issues brought upon this policy is the factor of convenience and trust within students. Certain students and staff aren’t fully accustomed to the new implementation, evidenced via multiple students going to the bathrooms with a “normal” bathroom pass that was originally intended now for only the nurse, office, guidance counselor, etc. 

The most assumed reason as to why certain students aren’t still adapted to the new policy, the A and E block off students, due to the fact that these students don’t have a A block, they don’t have a homeroom teacher that can give them there passes, albeit they can go to the office, the school has yet to enforce it onto them.

Albeit there are issues with this policy, there are advantages to this new policy as well. One of which being the classroom management as well as reduced smoking and skipping throughout the school. One of Holyoke High’s biggest problems last year was students constantly skipping class to use the restroom and never returning. Another problem being that during transition, there would be a group of students constantly in the bathroom smoking.

Possible solutions to this new controversial bathroom endeavor have been talked about throughout the school, certain students and staff are asking for the implementation to be removed immediately, others are asking to have a staff member constantly near the bathrooms to make sure no one is smoking, the solutions can go on and on from students and staff.

In conclusion, the new bathroom policy has brought a mixed bag of reactions to Holyoke High. While they undeniably offer advantages like reduced smoking and improved classroom management, they also raise concerns about trust and convenience. The debate continues, Holyoke HIgh will grapple with finding the right balance between discipline and autonomy during this school year with these doomed bathrooms.