Ellsworth High School administrators have closed the boys bathrooms after ongoing damage by students.
Ellsworth Superintendent Amy Boles says the boys bathrooms have been closed on and off throughout the school year because students — on multiple occasions — have trashed the first floor bathroom’s interior, ripping the toilet paper dispenser out of the wall and overflowing the toilet with too much paper.
To intervene, administrators have closed the bathrooms and directed male students to use single-occupancy bathrooms that are open to everyone.
Although a security camera sits in the hallway outside the first floor boys bathroom, no students have been disciplined in connection with the damage.
Administrators have not been able to identify which student is responsible for the damage, so the school has tried to make it “inconvenient” for students to use the vandalized bathroom, Boles said.
Ellsworth School Board Chair Paul Markosian said he had previously heard of issues involving vandalism of both boys and girls bathrooms, but was unaware of any current problems.
All students still have unimpeded access to other bathrooms in the building, Boles said.
