QSI’s girls’ bathroom doesn’t measure up

The condition of QSI’s girls’ bathroom makes students think twice when deciding if they should use it.  The overall aesthetic, cleanliness, lack of feminine hygiene products and privacy were some of the factors they weighed when deciding what to do.

“The girls bathroom is always dirty,” said junior Brigette Acquah. “There’s always things stuck on the walls and sometimes the toilets are not flushed.”

Rachel Akinade, also a junior is unsatisfied with the cleanliness of the girls bathroom. “I feel like it’s clean 60% of the time, but in general it just feels grimy in there,” she said. 

Some students like sophomore Sophia Papadopoulos find it so dirty they avoid the bathrooms altogether.  “Sometimes when I’m in class on the second floor, I would go to the bathroom downstairs in the basement because those ones are like so nice and the ones upstairs are like really nasty,” she said.

Bell Tabora, a sophomore, who described the bathroom as generally dirty and stalls not properly closing, raised an additional issue; the floor often has puddles of water, which Tabora explained could be both a hygienic and safety issue. 

“The RFK middle school has a better looking bathroom than us,” said Rose Primo, a sophomore. 

There are noticeable differences among the bathrooms.           

The majority of the stalls in QSI’s girls’ bathroom are unable to be locked and have writing on them, some authorized and some not. The height of the stalls is about 4 feet and 9 inches tall, but varies slightly depending on which stall you measure. There is one sink and it has a broken faucet. There is one mirror which is marked with fingerprints and stains from mystery substances  The dispenser for feminine hygiene products is broken and empty.

The girls’ bathroom in Robert F. Kennedy Middle School (RFK) has vibrant yellow walls and there is minimal writing on the stalls. The height of the stalls is about 5 feet and 4 inches tall. The sinks and mirrors are clean. And there is a dispenser with free feminine hygiene products. 

The basement’s girls’ bathroom has a gray tiled wall with a checkered white pattern at the top, a new and clean bright white sink and a newly added mirror and a wheelchair accessible stall. Like in RFK, the height of the stalls is about 5 feet and 4 inches tall  and there is a feminine product dispenser with free napkins and tampons.

The lack of free feminine hygiene products inside the QSI bathroom is a violation of New York State law, which requires that all public school bathrooms that serve students in grades 6-12 provide feminine hygiene products to students in school restrooms at no cost.  NYC was actually the first city in the country that required this, starting back in 2016, with the Menstrual Equity in Schools Policy.

Principal Meredith Inbal said she was not aware that there were zero feminine hygiene products in the bathroom. “I was aware the products had to be available but I was not aware they had to be specifically in the bathroom.” Inbal said students could get feminine hygiene products from the main office or from guidance.

Papadopoulos said that she thought having to go to the office and ask for feminine products would be awkward because “a lot of people find it disgusting… [and] it’s just kind of forward to ask for them.”

Secretary Denise Cervello said she was aware both that there were no feminine products in the bathroom and the law requiring that they be in the bathroom, specifically. She said that she would look into it.

Another issue raised by students was the lack of privacy in the QSI bathroom because of the condition of the stalls.

“The school should fix the bathroom doors since a couple of them don’t lock,” said senior Judyann Ventura. A few stall locks on the doors don’t line up with the hole on the stall wall. There’s one stall where the lock only has one screw holding it to the door and it spins around like a noisemaker toy from a child’s party. Tabora also complained about stalls not closing. 

And Akinade said that “the height of the bathroom stalls need to be taller” to provide more privacy.

Students don’t think the bathroom conditions will change.

But Primo thought a bathroom swap with teachers might help the situation. “Let them try our bathroom for a week. I bet they wouldn’t use it,” she said. “We deserve the same treatment they have.”

“I did use the QSI bathroom, but not anymore,” said Akinade.