After 3 Months, Answer On York Restrooms

ELMHURST, IL – It's been nearly three months, but Patch has received an answer about closed restrooms at York High School.

A reader's inquiries about the status of the restrooms prompted Patch's questions to Elmhurst School District 205.

This week, Tonya Daniels, the district's executive director of communications, said the restrooms may be closed as needed for cleaning and maintenance.

"Once the cleaning or maintenance is completed, the bathrooms are reopened," Daniels said.

Three months ago, Patch emailed Daniels twice – on Dec. 9 and Dec. 21 – about the reader's inquiry on closed restrooms at York. She did not answer them.

Patch filed a public records request that month about the restrooms, but the school's public records officer indicated the district had no responsive documents. That left open the possibility that instructions to close restrooms were verbal.

On Dec. 22, Patch published a story about its struggle to get information about the status of the restrooms.

Patch emailed Daniels again about the restrooms Feb. 21, but it got no answer. A follow-up email was sent six days later.

That's when Daniels replied that maintenance was the reason for the closures.

At the same time, she disagreed with one of Patch's statements in its inquiry.

"(Y)our statement that, 'At the time, the school wouldn't answer questions about bathroom closures,' is also a false statement," Daniels said. "You sent a public records request that came back non-responsive. That does not equal refusal to answer your question, but simply shows that there was no response to your records request."

Daniels did not take into account the two emails that Patch sent her.

In a later email, she acknowledged the December inquiries, but said they were duplicative of the records request.