The new gender-neutral bathrooms are located in B-Commons in the cafeteria. With private rooms and cleaner areas, the new bathrooms have been popular with the student population. However, a big issue with our new and improved bathrooms is that the menstrual products are in containers that require students to pay 25 cents.

Menstrual products are given to our students and faculty to provide accessible supplies for all students and combat period poverty in Virginia schools. Under state law (§ 22.1-6.1.), all school boards must make menstrual supplies available, at all times and at no cost to students, in the bathrooms of each middle school and high school in the local school division. So if CHS requires students to pay even 25 cents for menstrual products, then our school board is violating this state law.

I wanted to see what we could do to actually make the menstrual products free for students so that we could make this school more accessible for everyone. I decided to meet with our principal Dr. Malone on the matter. Initially, after I emailed and asked for an interview, Dr. Malone told me that CHS will be using tokens for the menstrual product dispensers, which was the plan stated the year prior, so that the supplies will effectively be free. These tokens were put next to the new B-commons bathrooms very late in the school year, about 2 weeks before the end of the first quarter. Before that, there was no way to get the menstrual products without paying.

I went during my lunch to see what the tokens were like and tested them out. Immediately, I noticed that they were a little too small – not the size of a quarter, which is what the machines take. I tested one, and it went into the machine, but supplies did not come out. In other words, it didn’t work. I tested a different machine with 5 more tokens, and they still didn’t work.

Later, I worked with one of my friends in engineering to 3D print a quarter-sized token. I used it on the machine. This time, I was able to press the button, unlike with the coins given by the school. But even though I could press the button on the machine, the menstrual products still wouldn’t come out.

After a follow up with Dr. Malone, administration made a new plan. As a result, all period products are now available in baskets at the sinks. One of our assistant principals is now working with the company who initially installed the machines to make the machines not require a token. Hopefully, we can have safe, accessible menstrual products for our school soon.