BATHROOMS CLOSED AS A RESULT OF VANDALISM: Updated

Nabila Ahmed

A sign hangs from the bathroom on the 2nd floor of Old Main. Many restrooms were closed due to vandalism.

Mary Gerend, Writer
September 15, 2021

Update: 9/17/21

With the recent vandalism, there are a couple new rules put in place by administration.

  1. All men’s restrooms will now be locked during passing period.
  2. During class, the only men’s restrooms open are 1st and 3rd floor in main, 1st floor C-Wing (by Deputy Cramer’s office), and 3rd floor between A and B wing. No second-floor men’s bathrooms will be open.
  3. All students that leave the classroom must have a pass- created in Smart Pass.
  4. All students in the hallways will be checked for a pass by Campus Supervisors and administrators.
  5. No passes should be given during the first 15 minutes of each class- except for restroom and medical conditions.
  6. No passes should be given during MTSS, with the exception of restroom and medical conditions.
  7. Any student who has destroyed school property will be prosecuted; an obligation will be placed on their account for the money it will take to repair the damage.
  8. Unisex bathrooms will be in available on 3rd floor main.

These rules are active immediately and will be in place until further notice.

9/16/21: An email was sent to Northtown staff at 8:16 this morning alerting them that all restrooms will be closed, except the first-floor café. After some confusion, it was clarified that only men’s and gender-neutral bathrooms are closed, the women’s remain open. The closures are suspected to be a result from a viral TikTok trend, where high school students steal objects from school, share them online, and dub the stolen items their “devious licks.” Some of the most stolen items are soap and paper towels, which is what lead to the bathroom closings at Northtown.

“It is crazy, I saw it going around snapchat, and at first, it was just the hand sanitizer in the hallways, and now with all the soap gone, the bathrooms are closed. I think they took it a bit too far closing the bathrooms though,” student Bella Partridge says.

A similar issue is happening at Maple Park middle school, an email sent out to families says, “Due to increased vandalism in the restrooms, students can no longer use the restroom in between classes, and they cannot take their backpacks to the restrooms.”

Many are worried about the effects of bathroom closures. Some questions remain unanswered; How long will this last? When the bathrooms reopen, will the vandals strike again? School officials declined to comment, but did share the new procedures.