Kent School District principals outline layered approach to high school bathroom safety

At a special work session of the Kent School District Board, district leaders and four comprehensive high school principals described a set of layered strategies to reduce disorder and improve student access in high school restrooms.

The session, convened to discuss “high school bathrooms,” opened with remarks from Superintendent Israel Vela and district staff and included extended presentations from principals at Kent Meridian, Kentwood, Kent Ridge and Kent Lake. The principals told the board that bathroom problems are not isolated maintenance issues but are tied to attendance, student belonging and campus supervision.

The principals emphasized a three‑part approach: 1) address root causes such as chronic absenteeism and students seeking social connection; 2) increase adult supervision and visibility in known “hot spots”; and 3) use targeted technology and facilities changes. “One of the key things for us in terms of management is being aware of what the challenges are,” said David Radford, principal of Kent Meridian High School, explaining the school's use of staff feedback and student tips to identify and respond to trouble spots. Radford said his campus of “30 plus acres” and roughly “1,600 kids” requires fast, coordinated staff responses when incidents occur.

Kentwood Principal Samantha Kedover described partnerships with the district’s maintenance and facilities team to secure and open bathrooms as needed and cited building layout differences between older and newer wings. “There is one set of bathrooms which is closed pretty much at all times,” Kedover said, noting the team closes some gym foyer bathrooms that cannot be adequately supervised and redirects students to other restrooms and locker rooms.

Kent Ridge Principal Krista Ernst said the district’s bathroom disruptions vary with weather and campus layout and compared the effort to “playing a game of whack‑a‑mole” as staff move to address new hot spots. Kent Lake’s principal said her school’s data showed attendance as a root cause, with the school reporting about 65 percent of its students identified as chronically absent; staff have assigned a rotating “float” administrator to supervision duties each period, used an electronic hall pass system and increased family outreach to get students into class.

Principals and staff described specific tactics already in use: moving mirrors from bathrooms into hallways to reduce crowding; posting multilingual expectations inside restrooms; piloting vape and environmental sensors to detect incidents; and using electronic hall‑pass systems (referred to in the session as Securly Pass or eHallPass) so administrators can see who is out of class and for how long. Several principals praised the district plumber and facilities staff for rapid response when toilets are vandalized or clogged. “We would not have been able to get to a solution without partnering with our maintenance of facilities team,” Kedover said.

Board members raised resource and equity questions. Director Clark and others asked whether heavy staff time devoted to supervising a small percentage of students is the best use of resources. Principals responded that many tactics are tiered: tier‑1 practices (greeting routines, hall supervision, expectations) benefit the majority, while intensive, personnel‑heavy supports are aimed at a small group of students with the greatest needs. “You have to spend more time and resources on the students in the highest tier, because they clearly need something more,” a district staff member said during the exchange.

Board members also asked about temporary or mobile cameras, parent volunteers as hallway monitors, and work‑study or mentorship programs that might add supervision capacity without pulling core instructional staff from classrooms. District staff said some camera purchases are made via state or enterprise contracts and that technology is a tool, not a complete solution.

Principals asked for ongoing board visibility into outcomes. Several requested future updates on incidence data and the effects of specific pilot strategies including sensors and hall‑pass analytics. The principals credited student voice for shaping some changes: Kentwood leaders said civics teachers had supported student engagement that led to presentation of concerns to the board.

The work session was discussion only; no formal board action or policy changes were proposed or voted on at the meeting. Board members thanked the principals for their work and said they expected follow‑up reports on data and pilot results.

Ending: The district framed bathroom issues as one part of a broader effort to reduce chronic absence and increase student belonging, with principals urging continued use of data, staffing strategies and modest facility changes to improve safety and access.