Why are all the locks broken in the boy's bathrooms at Deal MS???

[Anonymous]

My DS has been there 2 years and repeatedly tells us that you can't have any privacy in the stall at the school because all the locks are broken. I have PTA about it, nothing has been done. Anyone know why this is being tolerated? Who would be in charge of getting this fixed? Has anyone heard of similar problems with the girl's bathrooms?

[Anonymous]

I assumed the boys kept breaking locks that have been fixed repeatedly, no? Natural consequence of the permissive "boys will be boys" attitude with which they're too often raised.

I just asked my DD about the state of the girls' bathrooms. She said a few bathroom stalls have broken locks, but most are fine. BTW, she added that "girls don't usually smash the locks on their own doors." Naturally.

I asked if she's ever seen broken locks fixed, and she said no. So it seems that the school has decided not to repeatedly expend its resources in a futile effort to mitigate the vandalism. I see some logic there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DS has been there 2 years and repeatedly tells us that you can't have any privacy in the stall at the school because all the locks are broken. I have PTA about it, nothing has been done. Anyone know why this is being tolerated? Who would be in charge of getting this fixed? Has anyone heard of similar problems with the girl's bathrooms?

Principal? One of the 4 APs? One of the six custodians?

What would you expect a PTA to do about this?

[Anonymous]

Maybe Deal isn't all you think it is.

[Anonymous]

At least they have doors. When I was in high school
Most of the doors were missing. You just didn't
Poop at school. And if you needed two there was
One bathroom in a newer wing that had stalls wih doors.

It wasn't fun.

[Anonymous]

In case anyone is wondering, the bathrooms at Hardy are lovely. I use the girls room all the time when my son has "home" basketball games. No broken doors, no graffiti and no trash on the floor.

[Anonymous]

Deal parent who has a boy (6th grade) who is unconcerned about the locks.

I still remember when my lily-white high school of 2500 in a very upscale Midwestern suburb removed all the doors in the boys bathrooms due to vandalism. Public outcry started about why girls have doors and boys don't. Next day-- girls had their doors removed too. You had to have a friend block the view-- especially for tampon changing. Built teamwork! I still remember my Mom saying, "well I guess you can't have nice things at school either." End of story.

[Anonymous]

I grew up in (great) public schools- not in DC- and this was always common. I now teach at a public school and the teacher s bathroom has multiple stalls that don't lock. There is a wad of toilet paper positioned just so which does a remarkable job.

It is not even something I am upset about. It is such a minor part of the day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in (great) public schools- not in DC- and this was always common. I now teach at a public school and the teacher s bathroom has multiple stalls that don't lock. There is a wad of toilet paper positioned just so which does a remarkable job.

It is not even something I am upset about. It is such a minor part of the day.

Wow. I find this incredibly sad. The lack of concern for something that is a matter of human decency indicates to me a lack of concern about the education process in general. How did mayor guliani in new York curb crime? He focused on quality of life crimes (graffitti, broken windows, etc...) and now look at new York. An amazing transformation.

DCPS and really the whole DC government is very good at building beautiful new facilities and then abandoning the maintenance. Look at the now shuttered Takoma aquatic centre. What a waste! Deal will go the same way. It starts with ignoring broken bathroom locks, then ignoring broken bathroom toilets and sinks and so on, and so on. So typical!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe Deal isn't all you think it is.

Gimme a break.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in (great) public schools- not in DC- and this was always common. I now teach at a public school and the teacher s bathroom has multiple stalls that don't lock. There is a wad of toilet paper positioned just so which does a remarkable job.

It is not even something I am upset about. It is such a minor part of the day.

Wow. I find this incredibly sad. The lack of concern for something that is a matter of human decency indicates to me a lack of concern about the education process in general. How did mayor guliani in new York curb crime? He focused on quality of life crimes (graffitti, broken windows, etc...) and now look at new York. An amazing transformation.

DCPS and really the whole DC government is very good at building beautiful new facilities and then abandoning the maintenance. Look at the now shuttered Takoma aquatic centre. What a waste! Deal will go the same way. It starts with ignoring broken bathroom locks, then ignoring broken bathroom toilets and sinks and so on, and so on. So typical!

Takoma Aquatic center is closed??? OMGoodness, I had no idea. I loved going over there to let DD play in pool and watch swim meets.

[Anonymous]

It is a dark day at Deal. The students are being used as pawns. The money used for the Rubix cube tournament should go to the modernization of the boy's stalls. Parents unite!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPPJXSJjud0

[Anonymous]

Beautification day... Let's see put locks on the bathroom stalls.

I agree about the facilities... I do believe they put the cheapest of the cheapest hardware in the schools.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:Takoma Aquatic center is closed??? OMGoodness, I had no idea. I loved going over there to let DD play in pool and watch swim meets.

No, it's not closed. The previous poster was incorrect.

[Anonymous]

Thanks JSteele for setting the record straight.