Status Of York High Restrooms Unclear

ELMHURST, IL – Elmhurst School District 205 has not answered Patch's question about whether restrooms are open at York High School.

In an email early in the morning of Dec. 9, a reader told Patch that restrooms at York High School were closed and that he wanted to know why.

About 7 a.m. that day, Patch emailed the district's spokeswoman to ask whether restrooms were closed in the school.

This was four hours before the district informed the public that a video was circulating of a student pushing another student in a York restroom. Later, the district said it appeared as if the person being pushed was a student with a disability. The police got involved.

The reader who contacted Patch mentioned nothing about the incident, but said he heard that restrooms were closed because of vandalism.

The district's spokeswoman, Tonya Daniels, did not respond to Patch's inquiry.

At the close of business Dec. 9, Patch submitted a public records request seeking the same information. The request was copied to Daniels.

On Tuesday, the district responded, saying it had no documents that reflected restroom closures. However, that did not rule out the possibility that verbal instructions were given to close restrooms.

Patch emailed another inquiry to Daniels on Thursday evening.

At the Dec. 13 school board meeting, a woman spoke during public comments that York had taken the step of clearing restrooms and hallways after passing periods. She said this was in light of the incident.

The day after the board meeting, Patch asked Daniels about whether this measure had been revealed in a communication to parents. She did not respond.