Students urge interim study to ensure period products are available in Wyoming school restrooms

Two Wyoming high‑school students asked the Joint & Standing education committee to launch an interim study to ensure students have access to emergency feminine hygiene products in school restrooms.

Molly Marager, a junior at Cody High School, said restroom access to period supplies is an infrastructure issue that forces students out of class. “Fifty percent of our population who menstruates is forced to leave the classroom because their restrooms lack a basic hygiene necessity,” she testified, and argued dispensers stocked in restrooms would avoid lost instructional time and privacy invasions that can happen when students must visit the nurse’s office.

Kiefer Fornstrom, a junior at Pine Bluffs High School, urged that the cost of lost instructional minutes be compared with relatively modest dispenser and supply costs. “Wyoming invests approximately $18,144 annually per student,” she said, and asked the committee to quantify how missed instruction undermines that investment. Both students recommended an interim study to identify a statewide standard that does not depend on ZIP code or volunteer networks to keep supplies stocked.

Several lawmakers praised the student advocates and supported adding the topic to the committee’s interim agenda. Representative Lavey and Chair Schueller commended the students’ work and said the committee should examine whether to treat period products like other basic restroom supplies schools already provide (toilet paper, soap, paper towels).

Nut Graf: Student testimony prompted broad committee support for a fact‑finding interim study to evaluate costs, privacy implications and implementation options for providing emergency period supplies in school restrooms.

The committee did not adopt formal policy at the hearing; members directed staff to include the topic among possible interim studies and to gather additional information for future deliberations.