Standard bathroom passes were implemented schoolwide at Northwood at the start of the 2024-25 school year.

Each teacher was issued two bathroom passes that display the teacher’s name to give to students who need to leave the classroom for the bathroom or any other purpose. Students are required to have this pass if they are outside of the classroom and can only use the bathroom one at a time, with the other pass on reserve for emergencies.

“We need to know who’s supposed to be out of class and what class they belong to,” principal Leslie Roach said. “Teachers have a pretty limited amount of time with their kids, so we’re just trying to protect that class time.”

According to Roach, administrators were frustrated by students wandering around campus and hanging out in the bathrooms for extended periods of time last spring. They hope bathroom passes will ensure students go directly to the restroom and back to class.

“Last year, I had to go into the bathroom a couple of times to stop groups that go in and don’t come out for 10 minutes,” math teacher Harry Lee said. “Obviously it’s the start of the school year, but I’ve seen less students walking around, and I think that’s been very helpful.”

The bathroom passes have been met with mixed reactions from students, who expressed concerns about potential hygiene problems with sharing a communal bathroom pass.

“My first thought when I was introduced to the bathroom pass was that this is gonna be super nasty,” senior Ashley Nguyen said. “A bunch of people are gonna touch it, and there’s germs in the bathroom.”

While administrators acknowledge the sanitation concerns, they recommend students plan to use the restroom during break if they do not wish to use the passes. In the future, administrators plan to use the 5-Star digital app, which has been in slow roll-out this year, to issue bathroom passes, possibly removing hygiene concerns. It is not yet clear how this will work.

“I’m looking forward to how this policy will go,” sophomore Shelly Au said. “I hope students don’t abuse their time in the bathroom because, at the end of the day, there’s people who need that time more than others.”