The Houston Independent School District has implemented a controversial new policy that prohibits students from using the restroom during class, angering teachers.
The policy is part of Superintendent Mike Miles’ New Education System, which has also removed dozens of librarians from the district and implemented a staffing model that adds an apprentice and a coach to the classroom.
According to a report by The Houston Chronicle, Teachers at Sharpstown High School received an email from the dean of students saying that “effective immediately, restrooms are not permissible during instruction” as a measurement to “alleviate students from roaming the hallways.”
The policy caused concern to teachers, as the Houston Federation of Teachers filed a grievance on Friday to the district saying that it is “clear to us verbally and in writing that we are to jeopardize our own student’s safety, our livelihoods and our ethics to bar students from using the restroom if the need for the restroom is during instruction.”
“We refuse to participate in the cruelty of the policy and send students to the restroom without passes so that we might have plausible deniability when questioned for the allowance”, the Teachers added.
Users in Reddit also pointed out that the policy is ridiculous and harmful.
Students are also suffering the consequences of the policy. Micah Gaby, a senior at Worthing High School, told the Houston Chronicle that she saw a friend with her jacket tied around her waist. She asked her friend what was wrong, and the girl said she was menstruating through her pants because a teacher wouldn’t let her go to the bathroom.
