VALDOSTA, GA – After Wilson High School in Florence, Alabama made news because of a recent decision to remove the doors off bathroom stalls in the boys restroom the school board of Valdosta High School voted ten to one to not only take the doors off the stalls in both the boys and girls bathrooms, but to also remove the walls and replace them with plate glass.
“We are just trying to protect our students health,” said Principal Marvin Hartley. “We have students using the bathroom for vaping rather than what a bathroom is intended for. If a student is concerned about the lack of privacy they can always go off campus or hold it until after school lets out. That’s what I always did.”
Garrison Wheaton the lone voice of dissent in the school boards decision said he voted no, not because he is against the idea of invading students right to use the restroom privately but because he thought of the idea long before vaping was even an issue. “I just don’t get it,” said Wheaton. “When I proposed this five years ago to stop students from using the bathroom and not washing their hands I was laughed at. And now they are taking credit for my idea and acting like they came up with it on their own.”
Clearly educators in Valdosta have shown that there are no taboos or lengths that the public school system will go to in the name of protecting the health and well being of students. Other schools in the district are consulting with Valdosta High School and taking a wait and see approach before following in the schools footsteps.
