In many cases, when the word “bathroom” is used, people think of clean and functional facilities. Unfortunately, that is not always the first thought when people consider the LDHS student restrooms.

Recently, the LDHS bathrooms have been filthy and torn apart. Students are the sole cause of vandalism, opting to trash toilets and plumbing by flushing vapes and who knows what else instead of using the toilets for their designated purpose. People cannot wash their hands thoroughly because vandals choose to tear soap dispensers off the walls, some even choosing to put them in the toilets, too. Vandals have even found that they can get really creative when it comes to smearing things on the walls.

When problems like these arise, we look to the BUDD Group to help out in addition to their usual custodial duties. The BUDD Group is contracted to clean all 10 schools in our district and the District Office. BUDD Group Account Manager Brandon Taylor, ’99, is one of two managers, and he oversees LDHS’s custodial work. The BUDD Group employees keep everywhere from the Aux Gym all the way to the Tech Building clean, making sure facilities are usable for our students and staff, from 5:45 a.m. until late into the evening. The custodians are meant to be cleaning the classrooms and taking care of the floors and even our windows. Instead, they are constantly forced to maintain the bathrooms due to vandals and careless students.

“You would hope most people clean after themselves, but a lot of people don’t,” Taylor said.

The near constant vandalism and trashing of the bathrooms has the custodial staff in a headlock, though, often taking a lot of their time that could be used to tackle other student-created issues like messes in classrooms.

Just as there is a teacher shortage, custodial staffing issues exist and create more of a workload for everyone else. Sometimes the BUDD Group employees are not able to get to every little thing in a classroom.

“We are supposed to have 10 custodians, and we have eight. We are rarely fully staffed,” Taylor said.

The BUDD Group also operates under a “Scope of Work,” what needs to be done daily versus what can be done weekly or quarterly, and uses its best judgment for frequent issues like soap dispensers. The soap dispensers are often ripped off of walls and end up in our toilets, and the custodians think like anyone rational would when considering replacing the supplies that students have destroyed.

The cost of each dispenser is $10, and under normal conditions one dispenser of soap runs out weekly. The student restrooms’ 36 dispensers and their weekly refills should cost the school $1,440 a month. If soap is replaced every time a dispenser is broken or destroyed, however, the amount skyrockets. At some point, the students who are wasting supplies need to consider that their choices will lead to no soap for anyone.

“Do you want to use that soap dispenser to clean your hands anymore?” Taylor asked.

This wasted money leads to a lack of dispensers throughout the whole building and results in a situation that is overall very nasty. LDHS pays for the dispensers and, with the way the school vandalism problem is going, it seems as if the school is going to need a fund solely dedicated to soap dispensers. Due to student misuse, many bathrooms are left with no soap, and a lack of soap often leads to students’ choosing not to wash their hands. The lack of cleanliness is a big health concern, according to LDHS nurse Kim Arneson.

“It is absolutely more hygienic to wash with soap versus without. Water alone will not kill all the bacteria collected from doorknobs, desks, bathroom stall locks, toilet flush handles, etc. While hand sanitizer is a good option when soap and water are not available, it is always a better habit to use soap when it’s available, especially after using the restroom,” Arneson said.

The bathroom issues make many think, “What can we do to help?”

“It comes down to the individual and their personal standard and their personal ethic,” Taylor said. “There are times where we just cleaned a bathroom, only to have to do it again within an hour.”

A handful of the students at LDHS are the cause of the issues, while others who do not harm school property still choose to look the other way. Students who are vandalizing our restrooms and wasting expensive supplies often never think before acting and often do not really have to face the consequences, especially because there are no cameras inside the restrooms.

Therefore, LDHS faculty and staff and the SROs have teamed up to put an end to the misuse of restrooms. With the law enforcement officers’ being involved, anyone caught vandalizing the bathrooms is now at risk of receiving malicious damage charges and, depending on the cost of the damage, the charge might be a felony or misdemeanor.

Teachers are already assigned bathroom duty inside the restrooms during class changes, and their presence thwarts vandalism between class periods. Because of a recent uptick in restroom abuse during class time, during their planning periods teachers now periodically check restrooms near their classrooms. Custodians are considering joining the effort as well.

If the facilities are clean and in good condition, teachers are to find the nearest camera and give it a thumbs up. Restrooms with issues require a thumbs down and reporting the situation to an administrator. These checks provide a timeframe for school officials to check the hallway cameras to see which students were in the restrooms between the “all clear” checks and the vandalism reports. Usage of these procedures will help our custodial staff and give them more time to focus on other tasks.

At the end of the day, vandalism will continue at LDHS unless the proper people are held accountable. The school should implement solid protocols to prevent further destruction in our restrooms. The blame is not on The BUDD Group, but rather on vandals and those who choose not to speak up when they notice vandalism and destruction of property. The custodians’ considering joining the effort to record damage to restrooms during the day is great to hear. Ultimately it is up to us, the students, to monitor ourselves and others’ actions. Between custodians, SROs and the LDHS faculty, Sword & Shield hopes for the best in the effort to put an end to student vandalism.