With the new year comes new bathroom and parking pass policies here at Barlow. Bathroom doors are locked open, and an excessive amount of tardies will cause you to lose your parking pass.
Before winter break, it became increasingly apparent that people hanging out and skipping in the bathrooms was becoming an issue. For those trying to use the bathroom for its actual purpose, it was uncomfortable to do so with others in there. The new open-door policy is to stop students from congregating in the restrooms. “We just would like to keep the bathrooms clear so that regular kids that just want to actually use the bathroom can go in and be able to do it without having to feel intimidated by a large group of people hanging out there,” says Lynette Fay of student management. Student management is trying to patrol the bathrooms more often and has begun stationing staff members outside of them so that they can hear if large groups are in there.
Student response to the new bathroom policy has been negative. One Barlow student explains, “I mean it’s just kind of upsetting that I have to go to the bathroom with the door open because people decide to skip class in the bathrooms.” Another student says, “I think it’s weird and it’s an invasion of privacy.” With the doors open, you may be able to hear students congregating in there better but you can also hear people going to the restroom better. Now, students who follow the rules must now be punished because some people decide not to.
Vaping is also a recurring problem in the bathrooms. Vape sensors are in all the bathrooms, which alert student management every time they go off. A policy in the past suspended all students who were in the bathroom at the time the sensor went off, but this policy is no longer in place. Now when a sensor goes off, student management checks the cameras to see who entered and left the bathrooms or goes down to check out the bathrooms themselves. If a student is caught vaping, they will be suspended.
According to student management’s Rocky Grandjean, “They’ve seen an uptake in tardiness for juniors and seniors . . . there’s kind of a lack of timeliness.” Since only juniors and seniors have parking passes, Barlow admin and student management are hoping that if students know they’re at risk of losing their parking passes they will be on time for classes. Not all the details of this policy have been worked out but students will likely receive a warning first. If they continue to be late to classes, they may lose their parking pass.
Policies remain the same for students without parking passes and those with annex passes who park in the main lot. “People who have annex passes who are parking in [the main lot] won’t be able to get a parking pass next year if they don’t pay their tickets,” says Rocky. This can become expensive for those with multiple tickets. The first ticket is $10, the second is $20, and the third is $50. Third offenses may also come with a boot, which you must pay to be removed. The easiest way to avoid all this is to follow the rules. “If you don’t have a pass, don’t park here. If you are in the annex, stay in the annex. If you have issues with parking come talk to me directly,” says Rocky. His office is located in student management next to the wooden stairs in the commons.
