Jake Feldman 
1 February 2019

     Budging the bathroom door, students all across Atholton are frantic only to find out that the bathrooms are indeed locked. Holding their number one’s, two’s, and three’s, they struggle on their venture to the nearest bathroom. The infamous locked bathroom is none other than the Music/Art/Tech/Business bathroom. Many students are unaware of the exact reason for the bathroom being locked.

    “To clarify,” said Principal Robert Motley, “it is only the set of restrooms at the far end of the building (fine arts area). Reports of vaping and students just ‘hanging’ out in the bathroom are the reasons why.”

    According to Principal Motley, “thank goodness we have students that care about our school. They came forward and we were able to corroborate.” After corroboration, Principal Motley decided it would be in Atholton’s best interest to close the restroom until further notice.

    As a school in the Howard County Public School System, it is the decision of the administrators to come up with a solution to problems that arise. On December 12, 2018, at Glenelg, doors were chained after several attempts to resolve their vaping issue failed.

    Though our solution does not seem nearly as bad as Glenelg’s, most students and teachers view the closing of the bathrooms as an inconvenience rather than a precautionary measure. Having to go across the school just to use the restroom results in a loss of class time and tardiness.

    “[Closing the bathroom] didn’t stop anyone,” said Senior Dan Lawrence. “It only caused students to suffer as a whole, causing students to be late and a lot of people in the media center bathroom 24/7.”

     Principal Motley is aware of students dissatisfaction. “My sincere apologies that they are inconvenienced for the behavior of a few,” he said. “Unfortunately, it is how issues are addressed – akin to having to take your shoes off at the airport.”

     Rumors about the possible placement of smoke detectors in the bathrooms have been permeating Atholton and have been brought to Principal Motley’s attention. Principal Motley noted, “if there were to be an accident of some sort to occur, it would be nice to have a detector in there.”

    As of now, the Music/Art/Tech/Business bathroom has been unlocked and if need be, further action would take place.

 

Posted by Jake Feldman

Jake Feldman is a junior and this is his second year taking journalism. He enjoys playing basketball and video games. During the summer, Jake likes to go swimming at his local pool. He enjoys eating at the Cheesecake Factory, and when he is not eating there, Jake likes dining on chicken.

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