The signs on the hallway doors were clear: closed for lunch. But when the group representing Williams Act came through on their inspection of the campus last month, they overlooked the sign and its implications. They gave the school outstanding marks. But what they missed was a common knowledge among students – as long as the hallways were closed; there were simply not enough available restrooms.

The school lost four of the previous eight campus security monitors at the start of the 2011 school year. This loss of staff led to the closing of the east and west hallways at lunch. In closing the hallways, students had limited chances of getting in and out of the restroom in a timely manner, if they could get to the restrooms at all.

Ten restrooms for nearly 1,700 students.

There is a fine line one must traverse in order to keep the student body happy and safe. “We were maintaining safety, without thinking about consequences,” said Bill Parks, principal. By only having 10 restrooms open, there was a larger possibility of someone in dire need of a toilet not reaching one.

In having only 10 restrooms open to the student body, Stagg was in violation of the K-12 Toilet Requirement, which is a part of the state Education Code. This code requires that there be one restroom for every 45 female students, and one urinal for every 30 male students. In order to comply with the code, Stagg would need at least 19 restroom stalls open to each gender.  

There were multiple aspects to consider in trying to find a solution. Things like how thinly the security can be stretched or what kind of ramifications that will have on other areas of campus.

In the end there was only one solution according to Parks. “We’ll just flip the switch and open the east hallway,” he said.

In opening up the hallways students have been contented. “Since the reopening of the hallways, it gave me instant access to the closest bathroom in my vicinity,” said Teppuchea Oum, junior.

Few people on campus were aware of this requirement, and Parks blames that fact on budget cuts. “The plant supervisor position was cut,” said Parks. “He would be the one who would know that.” However, Parks understood the severity of violating the code, and knew he needed to find a solution.

In the end, it all comes down to budget cuts and a ripple effect. When positions are cut, details can get lost. The very people who should know the rules can lose track of what they need to know because they are lost in taking care of other people’s positions. And eventually someone will get hurt because of the lack of detail.