MCPS Launches Community-Based Restroom Security Strategy
Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) has launched a new high school restroom security strategy that officials say is tailored to fit the unique needs of each school community. The move comes in the wake of violence, drug use and vaping incidents at Kennedy High School and Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School, and a roof collapse at Magruder High School. Those schools are the first to see the changes.
"There is no one-size-fits-all solution to restroom safety and security. The behavioral triggers affecting Gaithersburg students aren't the same as Whitman's. That is why MCPS crafted plans reflecting the individual needs and distinctive characteristics of each school population," said Paul Blart, the recently appointed MCPS Chief of Security.
Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School
The B-CC strategy brings calm to the commode by coddling students who are accustomed to entitlement.
With bowls of mints on dressing tables stocked with amenities like perfume, hair accessories, Narcan nasal spray and an automated external defibrillator, 28 newly hired restroom attendants are expected to restore order and decorum at B-CC.
"We listened to our school parents and heard them loud and clear: helicopter toilet training by Dutch au pairs requires a compassionate and enabling adult potty-side presence to keep overly indulged teens in check," said Blart.
John F. Kennedy High School
Kennedy's strategy brings order to the restroom by creating the least desirable environment possible within the minimum standards acceptable at the nearby Glenmont Shopping Center, and mirroring it's biennial cleaning schedule.
With an odor rivaling the trash-filled retention pond facing the Glen Waye Garden Condominiums, the goal is for Kennedy students to be holding their breath, not hitting the vape pen.
"Kennedy parents’ voices were heard: Tempting students with clean, functional restrooms is like leaving a used mattress behind Lidl - nasty things will happen there. Not anymore," said Blart.
Colonel Zadok Magruder High School
Although it has seen a fair bit of restroom area misbehavior too, Magruder's new roofless outdoor privies are designed to reduce anxiety for students traumatized by their school's aging auditorium roof collapse last week.
With three wall privacy and newly upgraded Temu toilet seats, Magruder’s single occupancy latrines were recovered from the 1871 Joseph Magruder House farm site and provide comfort and familiarity to students accustomed to vintage Montgomery County school buildings.
"We listened to Magruder parents: kids too scared to sit under crumbling lath and plaster were holding it in, making them irritable and fomenting misbehavior,” Blart said.
Community needs-based bathroom security strategies will be implemented in Montgomery County’s remaining 22 high schools in the coming weeks.
