The principal of Travis Early College High School, Christina Steele Hantgin, has had restroom doors removed amid concerns for student safety. The principal, of the school located in Texas, claims this was to combat drug use and other “major behavioral occurrences” that had already taken place this year. She wrote a letter to parents explaining her choices while acknowledging that she could have done a better job at communicating her ideas.
The letter explained everything about behavioral incidents and conduct offenses that have happened inside these restrooms. About 90% of all violations were related to drugs. Steele Hantgin claims there have been no problems since the doors were removed.
KXAN.com reports about the school trying all other options to address the safety concerns. Locking bathroom doors was one of the strategies, but the procedure was considered inappropriate for taking too much time.
The principal explained her decision in the letter, underlying that safety was the school’s number one priority.
Bathroom doors were a concern in another school a few years ago. That incident was in Anne Arundel County, in Maryland.