Timberlane Regional High School is known for many things amongst its students vs staff. As of recently, many students, especially females have been more concerned and fed up with the funding and what our schools’ money is going towards. Mainly in the school bathrooms, the damage and seemingly uncaring behaviors from staff and students has gotten out of hand and it has started to become a problem with the girls picking fights and arguments. Other concerns being the flooding in the halls from plumbing, ceilings leaking, fire alarms going off, lights in hallways being down, closed off hallways that make it harder to be on time, closed bathrooms for more than half the day and much more. Last school year, we got out early even after snow days and even losing power at school and having to be let out early, due to the roof needing work and starting this school year the ceiling is still constantly being worked on and leaking.
As this year has progressed, in passing and in conversations I’ve heard numerous complaints and concerns from staff and students. Teachers are tired of dirty bathrooms, having to close them at various times throughout the day at random, closing hallways and having student’s attendance and routes to class being affected, having to spend more money on repairs and trying to keep up with the dysfunctions. Even outside of school, there have been multiple signs in Plaistow contradicting where the tax dollars and funding are going so it’s clear that parents are also sick and tired of hearing from their kids of the ways their money is being used.
Back to the topic of the female bathrooms, the high school girls have voiced their opinions on how the bathrooms conditions are. Many females have stated that they are tired of the bathroom conditions being so poor and taken advantage of. There have been times where I’ve walked in and seen tampons all over the walls and ceilings and even notes being left by other students saying they don’t appreciate the mess and the waste of feminine products that are usually already low as it is. As well as the clogging of the toilets and breaking things, the women’s bathrooms at this school are not well taken care of. There have been multiple occasions where the janitors have had to ask us what the issues are and how these things have happened and have gotten no answers. Over all the teenage girls at Timberlane are very tired and agitated with the schools lack of care as well as their fellow students who take advantage of the semi-niceness of the bathrooms causing them to be closed.
As well as the female bathrooms, the boys bathrooms are not any better. The 100 hall boys bathroom is never open and there are constantly teachers outside the bathrooms, mainly the 200 boys. Seeing as the boys aren’t as vocal about the actual conditions of the bathrooms, they are sick of being unable to find a bathroom due to them always being closed, watched or full due to the unavailability of the bathrooms. There is also more destruction from the boys due to this agitation. There was at one point a hole in the wall about a year ago via the 200 bathroom and the 600 bathroom has had many breaks being the sinks, toilets and the stale doors. Between the two genders and in between, there are rarely any times you are able to peacefully use the bathroom and have available resources necessary.
This October there was a budget committee facilities tour that discussed the budgeting and where the money is going.
