Blair Bathrooms to Stay Locked

PTA President justifies decision to lock bathrooms at Blair High School in message sent to Blair parents on PTA listserv and forwarded to Parents' Coalition.  What this message tells us is that Superintendent Jerry Weast SUPPORTS the locking of bathrooms during the school day. How do we know that? Because when Jerry Weast doesn't support a principal's action he intervenes (see minute 3:32 in video at link where Weast states "full backing" of administration staff in overturning principal's action). 

Please note that last year Blair had 2,788 students. Closing off 2 floors of bathrooms means that 2,788 students must use only the first floor bathrooms, assuming they can physically access them when needed.

There has been no concern expressed by any MCPS adults, Board of Education members (including the Student Member), or Superintendent Jerry Weast for the students that may have physical limitations that prevent them from accessing bathrooms two floors away.   

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December 3, 2009

The unfortunate situation that we have with locked bathrooms during
lunch has resulted from a combination of ongoing vandalism of the

upstairs bathrooms, and a short term problem of a shortage of security

personnel due to illness and retirement.



Blair security was aware that there was a problem in the upstairs

bathrooms during lunch, including destructive vandalism and extensive

graffitti. This problem was compounded when staffing dropped by two

because of one illness and one retirement, and left them with defaced

and non-functional bathrooms, and an inability to effectively monitor

the upstairs bathrooms during lunch. This is not a situation that

should continue for very long. Substitute security staff and new hires

are both being sought to cover the staffing shortfall, and building

services is working on restoring the appearance and functionality of the

damaged, defaced bathrooms.



When you hear from your student about bathroom conditions, shortages of

paper supplies, non-functioning sinks or toilets, or worse, please pass

those reports immediately to Blair's building services manager, Yak

Agbonselobho, Yakubu_I_Agbonselobho@... Any behavioral issues in the

school, such as reports of fights or other out of line activities should

be forwarded to Blairs Security Team Leader,

Cedric Boatman, Cedric_L_Boatman@...



I will stay in touch with the administration, and let you all know when

conditions return to normal, and whether there is anything else that

parents can do to help the situation.

Pete Lafen

PTSA Co-President