{"id":488,"date":"2022-10-25T22:48:40","date_gmt":"2022-10-26T02:48:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2022-2023\/?p=488"},"modified":"2023-09-12T02:35:37","modified_gmt":"2023-09-12T06:35:37","slug":"empty-menstrual-product-dispensers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2022-2023\/2022\/10\/25\/empty-menstrual-product-dispensers\/","title":{"rendered":"Empty Menstrual Product Dispensers Reveal Student Struggle for Product Access"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n

Chloe Yokitis<\/p>\nEditor<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In compliance with a 2022 Virginia policy<\/span><\/a>, ACHS administration installed free menstrual product dispensers in women\u2019s bathrooms at King Street Campus before the start of the school year. However, the dispensers were never filled, and they remain empty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Helen Morris, President of the Alexandria Campaign on Adolescent Pregnancy, said that\u2014 in theory\u2014 the dispensers’ installation is a step in the right direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a great equity win, as a school supporting young people,\u201d said Morris, who is a former ACPS School Board Member. \u201c[Especially since students can now] afford not to go to the nurse and have confidence that they\u2019ll be supported.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ruth Christino, a junior, agreed that menstrual product dispensers, if filled, would benefit students, especially considering recent federal changes in reproductive health regulation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith Roe v. Wade<\/em> being overturned and everything, I think menstrual rights and reproductive rights and health are very important,\u201d said Christino. \u201cI noticed [the dispensers in women\u2019s bathrooms] immediately, and I was honestly very excited about it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her excitement quickly wore off when she realized that the dispensers, which have slots for both pads and tampons, were empty. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI love the idea,\u201d Christino said. \u201cBut ACPS is not good about maintaining their bathrooms, so why should I have faith that there’s always gonna be a period product there, or the one that I want to use?\u201d she said. \u201cI kind of doubt that they will maintain it. But I hope they will.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zayda Morales, the Health Educator at the Teen Wellness Center (located on the first floor of King Street Campus), sought answers from the ACPS maintenance team after discovering that the dispensers were installed but empty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI asked [an employee about] who is in charge of refilling and filling those things, and he said the school contracts a cleaning company and that cleaning company is responsible for refilling the boxes,\u201d said Morales. \u201cI\u2019d assumed that they’d put stuff in [after I talked to them], and maybe they did and it’s gone, I don’t know. But that’s the story.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The dispensers, according to ACPS Director of School Health Services Dr. Robin Wallin, have never been filled. ACPS is in the process of acquiring menstrual products for the dispensers to comply with the state policy\u2014 which, Dr. Wallin said, is an \u201cunfunded mandate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c[The policy] mandates that school divisions make menstrual supplies available at all grade levels,\u201d said Dr. Wallin. Though the policy is vague about elementary schools\u2014 only saying that free products \u201cneed to be available\u201d\u2014 the policy is more specific when it comes to secondary schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn middle and high schools, the law says that menstrual products need to be available in the restrooms,\u201d said Dr. Wallin. \u201cAnd I know ACPS has been kind of scrambling to make that happen.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ACPS is in the process of ordering and waiting to receive the products, she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHopefully, sometime this semester, you’ll be able to see that at the high school. But in the meantime, there are other locations where [people] can get products at school,\u201d said Dr. Wallin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Each Academy office at King Street Campus supplies a variety of menstrual products. To use these products, students can ask any Academy\u2019s administrative assistant.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even if products are not available in the King Street Campus\u2019 bathrooms\u2014 or not accessible, since the law doesn\u2019t regulate men\u2019s or gender neutral bathrooms\u2014 all ACPS schools have products in other locations, including Academy offices, counselors’ offices, and nurses’ clinics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMenstrual supplies are stored in the Health Clinic here at Brooks,\u201d said Nurse Wendy Harper, who works at Naomi L. Brooks Elementary School. \u201cSchool clinics have always had hygiene supplies, so this is not a change [brought on by the state policy].\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the King Street Campus, products are available in the nurse\u2019s clinic as well, said Nurse Kim Phillips. At the clinic, which is located on the first door to the right in the College and Career Wing, there is a \u201cself-care\u201d center with free health products like bandaids and menstrual products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe always have the supplies here. No shame. We just want people to be safe. We want people to understand about their bodies and stay in school. This is just part of it,\u201d Phillips said. \u201cCome and get a pad or a tampon, and get back to class.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Phillips also encourages students to take pads for the rest of the day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf it’s the first thing in the morning, or whenever, they can take more pads if they need to take them home. And they’re welcome to come back the next day, whenever they need. We ask that people not abuse the system, but no shame, no questioning. Get what you need,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The self-care service area is right next to the door of the clinic. Though menstrual cycles are often a hushed matter, said Phillips, the clinic aims to emphasize the normality of periods. \u201cWe normalize it\u2014 it\u2019s right there, we\u2019re not hiding it,\u201d she said.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the bathroom dispensers have not been filled at King Street Campus yet, Satellite Campus Administrative Assistant Sheree Stephens said that filled menstrual product dispensers are available and filled in women\u2019s bathrooms at that building.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have dispensers here at Satellite in the women’s restrooms that get restocked by our wonderful school nurse,\u201d said Stephens. \u201cShe does a wonderful job at making sure that it is well-stocked.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Minnie Howard Campus Administrator Alexander Duncan said that there are filled dispensers in Minnie Howard\u2019s women\u2019s bathrooms as well. However, he said the misuse of menstrual products is a concern.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe stock dispensaries, but users come along and empty them,\u201d said Duncan, \u201ceither to vandalize with the products or to store them away for personal use.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Lenhle Vilakati, a senior, said that she appreciates the menstrual product dispensaries in King Street Campus bathrooms but doesn\u2019t understand their purpose unless they\u2019re filled. \u201cI like that it\u2019s free, but it\u2019s empty\u2014 so how effective is it?\u201d she said.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some students believe that ACPS should be doing more to support menstruating students across all campuses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Senior Lenhle Vilakati recounted how she once ran out of tampons during the school day, so she went to the nurse\u2019s office to get some but was only given one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI asked the nurse, \u2018Can I have another one?\u2019 And she said, \u2018You can come back.\u2019 I looked at her [like she was] crazy. I just don\u2019t think one tampon is enough,\u201d Vilakati said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vilakati also believes that ACHS should provide a wider variety of products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think ACPS can invest in their students who have menstrual cycles. Get more menstrual products in a variety of sizes,\u201d she said. \u201cNot everyone\u2019s period is gonna be small or anything like that. Naturally, it\u2019s different for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bronwyn Turney, a junior, said that accessible, available menstrual products would make students feel seen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c[Periods are] a really hard and awkward thing, so [menstrual product access, especially in the bathrooms] just makes it a little bit easier. And I think that students at this school deserve it,\u201d said Turney.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vilakati said she thinks the root of the struggle for menstrual product access comes from the stigma and sexism associated with menstruation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf it was [cisgender] guys going through this, they would never have to worry,\u201d Vilakati said. \u201cWhy should we?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All photos by Chloe Yokitis for <\/em>Theogony<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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