Vandalism, 'Rodent Infestation' Concerns Raised By Ridge Students

BASKING RIDGE, NJ — Ridge High School students took a stand at a recent Board of Education(BOE) meeting over the continued vandalism to bathrooms and the presence of mice.

"The bathroom situation at Ridge is substandard. Since the beginning of the school year, the number of school bathrooms has been decreasing to the point that before I went to Ridge the girls only had two bathrooms to use," said Gabby, a Ridge High School junior at the Jan. 23 BOE meeting.

She added that the 500-wing girls' bathroom has a hole in the ceiling that has "not been addressed" and students have to walk 6 minutes just to find a bathroom while missing class time.

One resident, Sherry Nelson, was emotional while speaking during the meeting.

"Our facilities are disgraceful… I am actually physically upset, sick to my stomach thinking about it. In our town, this is what is happening? These are the conditions of our schools?" said Nelson.

Gabby, who is also part of a town Girl Scout troop, said they conducted a survey of 106 high school students with the following results:

• 65 percent - feel they don't have adequate access to school bathrooms
• 74 percent - feel cleanliness at school bathrooms is poor
• 44 percent - are unlikely to drink water from the fountains
• 56 percent - have seen vermin during school hours.

"Overall we as students, we all feel like the conditions at our school have room for improvement and although some of the problems have been addressed much more can be done," said Gabby.

Another Ridge High School student and girl scout named Liliana focused her comments on the mice in the buildings.

"There have been numerous sightings of mice running in the hallway throughout the day and several mice have been found in classrooms and the cafeteria," said Liliana.

She added that the mice are also destroying school resources such as clay and other materials in the art room.

"I speak for the student body when I say the rodent infestation does not provide a safe nor comfortable environment for learning and we believe more action needs to be taken," said Liliana.

Ridge Student Representative Kyle Swan also touched on the vandalism of the bathrooms.

"We understand and share in the discontent of the student body and implore the small number of vandals to stop destroying the bathrooms for the rest of us," said Swan.

He added that the student government will be putting up flyers in the upcoming days to reiterate the message toward the vandals. Additionally, the flyers would also help students find an open bathroom and reduce travel time outside of class.

Superintendent Nick Markarian said he took a tour of all of the bathrooms in the high school to take an unofficial audit of all of the fixtures including toilets, soap dispensers, etc. Of the fixtures, he estimated 90 percent were working.

"I want the public to know we are taking the kids seriously and taking a look at how we can make things better. I care so I took a walk," said Markarian.

Vandalism of the bathrooms included fixtures being ripped off the walls, toilets not flushing, and a brick in one of the toilets, which are all causing the shut downs.

Swan emphasized the hurdles students must go through to even use a working bathroom including having monitors at every bathroom, signout sheets at every classroom, lanyards being left outside of bathrooms, limiting the number of students allowed in at each time, and leaving phones in classrooms.

"It's not a privilege being taken away from the kids as punishment, these bathrooms are simply not usable," said Swan. "It's not a simple problem to address and we are all incredibly frustrated."

Patch reached out to Markarian for further comment about the bathrooms and he said:

The district emphasizes a positive school climate and culture where vandalism has no place. The RHS maintenance team is aggressively addressing needed repairs so that restrooms may best serve our school community.