BULLITT COUNTY, Ky. — School leaders say North Bullitt High School has changed a lot in the past two years. The school implemented a policy at the beginning of last school year to lock hallway bathrooms during class periods.
“It is a policy that’s proven to keep our kids safer,” Bullitt County Public Schools Superintendent Jesse Bacon said.
Before that, a lot of smoking, vaping, and fighting happened in bathrooms, out of the view of adults, according to teachers.
“You could probably see at least 20 to 30 students roaming the halls, loitering that had asked to use the restroom but had a different agenda,” school counselor Chelsea Mullennex said.
Senior Matt Smith says the bathrooms reeked of smoke.
“You would see three or four people passing around a cigarette or something like that,” Smith said. “It stinks, you can barely use the restroom.”
Now, students can go to the office and use the bathroom there during class periods, with the permission of a teacher. Hallway bathrooms are opened during passing periods and are monitored by teachers and administrators.
Since the policy was implemented, incidents at the school have been reduced by 40 percent, according to Bacon.
“From day one, we saw a dramatic decrease,” Bacon said.
The policy also has a purpose other than keeping students from smoking, vaping and fighting.
Mullenex says if a student is struggling with something, they might just ask to go to the bathroom to be alone. Now, students are being pushed to ask for help.
“Students are much more inclined to seek out the appropriate resources if they’re having issues at school instead of isolating themselves,” Mullennex said.
Smith, now a senior, says students are acting better now than they did three years ago.
“It’s definitely solved the problem more than made a worse problem,” Smith said.
If students have a medical reason to use the bathroom during class and the office bathroom is occupied, school staff can open another bathroom for them if they have a doctor's note.
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