Big Sky High School has seen an uptick in vandalism in the school bathrooms, according to assistant principal Sabrina Beed. 

The uptick has caused the shared bathroom facilities to become a source of growing concern for both students and faculty, says Beed.

“It’s quite concerning knowing that people want to damage our restrooms, knowing it costs thousands of dollars to fix and replace the damage,” Beed stated.

According to Beed, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, vandalism in the school bathrooms was never an issue. However post-COVID, it has become a common occurrence. 

“The bathrooms on average are vandalized at least twice a month, if not three times, sometimes feeling like it happens on a weekly basis,” Beed said.  She noted that vandalizing can include kids scratching words into the stalls, pulling things off the walls such as the sinks and urinals, as well as flushing a variety of things down the toilet, like food.

Last month there were nine corndogs that got shoved down a toilet, assistant principal Christine Hiller Claridge said.

According to Beed, the administrators are doing their best to deal with the vandalization of the bathrooms. Admin and faculty are trying to make sure that they are checking the bathrooms. Male teachers have been asked to pop in once in a while, wash their hands, and make sure everything is okay.

“I went to my male teachers because the bathrooms that are vandalized tend to be the boys’ restrooms,” Beed explained. “If they know that a faculty member is coming in there, it is less likely for kids to vandalize the bathrooms.”

Beed said the administrators also watch videos, but it is difficult to narrow down the time frame. If they are able to narrow down the time and find someone who went in and out during the time, it still proves difficult to confirm if someone was responsible for a vandalism act, unless someone saw it and is willing to say something.

“If you see something, please say something. If you happen to be in the bathroom and see vandalism please come tell us administrators,” head principal Jennifer Courtney said. 

Beed explained that even if someone says something, it is still tough to issue citations because there is no video evidence of the incidents occurring. In the event that administrators can punish someone for vandalism, they will be cited with a misdemeanor vandalism charge, according to Beed. 

Beed talked about how the tough part of closing the restrooms is that there are 1200 kids that attend Big Sky High School and if they can’t use the restroom closest to their classroom they can miss out on valuable instructional time. At least one bathroom has been closed every week during the school year, sometimes up to three, according to Beed.

In freshman seminar classes, Hiller-Claridge mentioned, teachers are currently in a unit about how their actions affect other people. Teachers teaching this class have invited custodians into their classrooms to talk about how they are the ones who have to clean these messes up and how it’s affecting them.

If violators get caught, they can be tasked to help custodians clean the bathrooms and the building, Hiller-Claridge stated.