It started when I was in my first period when the teacher announced that only 2 bathrooms and men required passes to use their restrooms. I was slighly frustrated and didn't believe it was true because that would be illegal and illogical. After seeing the restrooms closed and needs to sign or get a passs from a teacher, I thought something was up. I asked guidance for the bathroom policy and they gave me it. It was that this was the new bathroom policy. I heard people in my classes talk about creating a petition, so I knew that their was interest in starting one. So I went home that day a created a petition from scratch and tried to sound profession and serious.I sent someone out to help me and got his signatures a few days later. I got 90% of men to sign and their female friends usually signed as well. I asked people in the morning ,in my classes, and at lunch to sign. The petition got 550 (about 1/4 of the school) signatures from about both men and women to revert the policy when it worked and was not discriminating. It was to prove to the principal it was unpopular. I meet with my dean and he addressed some of arguments as invalid. When I met with my principal and my dean and I showed them the part where it mentions it being illegal, they did not respond(they likely know its illegal). I was very civil speaking to them and was trying to negotiate with them but they essentially dismissed me. I need help reddit to defend my rights and my fellow classmates. I have the Brevard County School District office and the Brevard news. All help is appreciated.

This is from the word document that I created, some of it changed after it was addressed to the dean and then the principal(the creator of the policy).

Bathroom Policy Petition

We, the students, of Melbourne High School, demand that the bathroom policy be reverted to its original policy before April 13th, 2016. Here are my arguments for reverting the policy:

∙ It causes people to be late to their classes, resulting in more tardies and less learning.

∙ Students not able to make it to the restroom will be less focused on learning and more so on trying to beg the teacher to let them go to the bathroom.

∙Teachers are going to be annoyed having to sign passes for people to go to the restroom and interrupt teaching.

∙(Added after signature) Custodians guard the bathrooms instead of cleaning.

∙It violates the following statement on Brevard county public school's edline page. The School Board of Brevard County, Florida does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, age, disability or marital status in its educational programs, services or activities, or in its hiring or employment practices.

∙It violates Title IX of the U.S Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.

∙ Discrimination is the practice of unfairly treating a person or group of people differently from other people or groups of people. This policy punishes male students because of gender (forced by birth) and not their behavior (chosen consciously). Discrimination is illegal in Brevard County Schools and all public schools in the United States.

The guidance office argues they enacted the new policy because of vandalism. However, even such a problem can't be solved by making illegal actions, especially in a government owned public school. It is unjust to lock the doors on the bathrooms because of a few vandals and punish half the school. It is better to punish the vandals individually. I visited 3 of the bathrooms before the policy change and they didn't have any major issues. It's better to have all the bathrooms working than just 2. Not all the bathrooms were vandalized, so why close most of them down, fix the bathrooms that are broken and open them back up.

I have multiple strategies to combat and prevent the vandalism problem: ∙Prevention is usually less expensive than fixing. School already knows this

∙Vandals are more likely to vandalize if objects are already partially broken, so maintenance is important.

∙Require vandals to pay (Vandal's Parents must pay) and repair objects that are damaged to teach them to not do it again.

∙ Create a school-wide program that teaches students to value the school and treat it with respect. Show students various acts of vandalism and educate them about the legal and moral ramifications of destroying someone else's property.

∙Place cameras outside the bathroom and question suspicious people. It will likely save money in the future. The presence of cameras discourages immoral actions. School already does this

∙Praise students who treat school property with care such as being gentle with textbooks, computers, keyboards, desks, and sports equipment.

∙Offer counseling to frustrated students, since frustration a likely cause of vandalism. School already does this.

∙Put a picture of eyes in both bathrooms, the feeling of being watched encourages legal behavior. I admit this part is really creepy but they are desperate

It is in the best interest of the entire school to revert to the old policy and many other people agree from my signatures. If the school does not agree to this demand, I am calling the news and the county offices and it will hurt the reputation of the school.

The current bathroom policy: "The only restroom's used for male students are in the 1 and 9 buildings. The male gym bathroom is closed except for during gym class. Building 15 men's restroom is open only during lunch. Male students must have a hall pass sign for by your teacher to go the restroom." Female restrooms are all open throughout the school day and don't require passes, while not mentioned, is reality.

This petition was created by Anonymous

Additional arguments by atheist4thecause: Handicapped males will be disproportionately impacted. Students in wheel chairs now have to go further as do students on crutches. (It's not just permanently handicapped males that will be impacted but temporarily handicapped males such as sports players that break ankles, tear ACL's, etc.) Also, when a student does leave the class under this policy, they will be gone for a much longer time and that will create suspicion of wrong-doing by the teacher, who mentally has to keep track of that student that is gone because they are still responsible for the student. This policy not only hurts students, but it hurts teachers.