One line, one restroom, one stall available; nobody can afford to be late to class.
Over the past four years, North Hollywood High School has been through a lot of change. New buildings are now open and rules are starting to be strongly implemented. One of which is the bathroom policy. Students are not allowed to go to the restroom during the first ten minutes and last ten minutes of class to prevent unproductivity. Although these rules have been around for a long time it is only now that they are being taken more seriously.
At the start of this semester teachers have become more strict on taking a pass to the restroom. Mrs. Latch uses a teddy bear to carry around while others use what was given to them by the school. The pass can vary in objects such as name tags, clipboards, and even a toilet seat depending on the teacher.
Although it can be necessary for the staff to see where the students are, some students feel repulsed by the idea. SAS Sophomore Brianna Valle explains, “I feel that carrying a pass to the bathroom is understandable however it feels unsanitary. Taking the pass as other students to the bathroom is uncomfortable because I never know what the pass has touched.”
However, the policy isn’t the only problem. The real problem is seen in the number of restrooms that are actually available for students. According to Lesly Avila, an SAS Junior, “There are plenty of bathrooms on campus but many of them are often closed which causes traffic long waits at the bathrooms that are open.”
Despite the fact that six restrooms were built, one in the Frasher and Kennedy buildings and three in Colfax, only three remain open pretty often. Valle further emphasizes, “I often see the two c-building bathrooms closed majority of every week… This makes me frustrated because I feel that there are facilities next to my classroom I should be able to use and not have to walk all the way to K-building.” The management of these two restrooms cause the other three to be packed, and for students to take longer to get back to class.
This was seen on May 20, 2026, when the school closed down the bathrooms in Kennedy because they were out of order; only two were available for students. Due to this the female restroom in Frasher was filled and the line stretched out almost reaching outside the door.
As if only having three bathrooms wasn’t enough, some stalls are occupied by students who don’t want to go to class. HEA senior Lesly Cuevas expresses, “It can be very annoying especially when it’s like an emergency and someone is just sitting there. I just hope they can understand that other people genuinely have to use the bathroom.” As a result restrooms end up crowded due to the one stall available per building.
This is an issue that has recently been rising with not much done about it, and it isn’t because of the system, but rather the school itself. According to Cuevas,“If possible I feel like we definitely need more bathrooms built or at least the ones we have open more often because there are a lot of problems that are adding up to the issues that we have now.”
NHHS could definitely continue to renovate in order to ensure that these essential resources are available for their students. Whether it’s by installing new restrooms or making sure that the ones already built are open less students will wait in the long line anxious about getting to class on time.
