“I never thought I would say we have a bathroom problem,” says Oscar Vidal, a student at Chatham High School. Chatham has more than 1,200 students but only two open, functioning bathrooms.
He recalled an incident in which a bathroom in the math wing overflowed after students flushed vape cartridges. “The school smelled terrible for a week,” Vidal said. In response, school administrators closed most restrooms, leaving only those in A-Wing and C-Wing open.
The remaining bathrooms are on opposite sides of the school. Each boys’ restroom has two stalls and three urinals, while the girls’ restrooms have five stalls each.
“The issue is that there is a line for at least five minutes every time you have to go to the bathroom, no matter what you have to do,” said Krish Patel, a senior at Chatham. “And the worst part is it’s been going on for two years.”
Students said the bathroom situation affects more than just their convenience. A group of 10 students estimated that a bathroom trip takes about 12 minutes, while class periods last 55 minutes. With more than 600 male students and only a few fixtures available, some students said the bathrooms are overcrowded and unpleasant.
Students believe the closures were intended to reduce vaping on campus. However, some students say the policy has not eliminated vaping but has instead concentrated it in fewer locations.
Students say that many avoid using the bathroom during class and wait until lunch instead, when the lines are often even longer. By then, the hour-long break from class turns into another wait outside the restroom that can take up a good chunk of their lunch hour, leaving students with less time to eat and less time to relax before their next period. For some, the bathroom problem has become something they plan around every day.
Students said the bathroom problem has made the school day feel more stressful overall. Instead of being a quick break, using the restroom can take so long that it interrupts lunch, class time, or both. For some students, that has made the issue feel less like an inconvenience and more like part of the daily routine.
“When you put everyone in the same place, it just makes it worse,” Patel said.
Some students said more supervision could help reduce vaping and improve conditions, while others said reopening the original bathrooms is the only true fix.
Many students said they hope the school finds a better solution, but for now, the bathroom problem remains part of the school day.
