Recognizing that access to menstrual products like pads and tampons is a “basic human right,” California passed Assembly Bill (AB) 367, the Menstrual Equity For All Act of 2021, which requires all California public high schools to regularly stock free menstrual products in all girls’ restrooms, all gender-neutral restrooms, and at least one boys’ restroom, beginning in the 2022-23 school year.
MHS has installed menstrual product dispensers in all girls’ restrooms to meet these requirements but has failed to keep them consistently stocked in certain restrooms, possibly violating AB 367. In particular, the dispensers for the girls’ restrooms in the lower L building and between the F and G buildings were empty of both pads and tampons when The Union checked multiple times over the course of a week.
The Union has also observed that there are no menstrual product dispensers installed in any of the boys’ restrooms for transgender students or others who may menstruate, which is another possible violation of AB 367.
Since the bill guarantees that the state will reimburse school districts for state-mandated costs like purchasing menstrual products as per the California Constitution, there is no real justification for not adequately stocking and restocking hygiene products in restrooms.
An unclear schedule for when restrooms are open exacerbates this issue of accessing menstrual products and must also be addressed. Both L-building restrooms are usually closed by lunch and the other restrooms on campus are often unpredictably closed because of hazards like vandalism or flooding. As a result, students who can not find menstrual products in a particular restroom must walk across campus — while potentially suffering from menstrual leakage — in search of products, unsure of whether the next restroom they go to will be stocked or even open.
AB 367 also states that restrooms must have a notice in a “prominent and conspicuous location” to notify students that they contain free menstrual products, and yet, even the stocked restrooms at MHS do not contain such notices. We urge the school to add them, as it is just as important to notify students of these products as it is to provide them.
There are alarming consequences for lack of convenient access to menstrual products, including emotional strain, risk of infection through using unsafe alternatives, and absenteeism. A study by the Thinx and PERIOD organizations found that 84% of teens have missed class time or know someone who has missed class time because they did not have access to menstrual products, an issue that many MHS students may be facing as well. Last year, The Union wrote an editorial commending the school for taking initiative by adding and stocking menstrual product dispensers in all girls’ restrooms even before it was state-mandated. Unfortunately, those same dispensers are now sometimes empty or inaccessible when restrooms are closed. We can no longer claim that students can reliably access menstrual products at MHS, especially when the school has failed to meet the AB 367 requirements. Thus, we urge the school to fulfill its duty to students by more diligently complying with state law and providing students with convenient and equal access to menstrual products.
