Your bathrooms are gross.
Fix them, fastPicking up where you left off.
Every fix below ends in an email to someone specific. Pick your school and we'll find their emails for you.
Searching US public high schools from the federal NCES directory.
School not in the list (middle school, private, outside the US)?
Go and inspect them
Take the four-senses inspection checklist into three or four bathrooms — get a friend to cover the ones you can't go into. It asks you to look, listen, smell and touch, which sounds ridiculous and is exactly how you end up with a sentence like “six of eight stalls don't latch.” That sentence gets a work order written. “They're gross” doesn't.
Come back when you've walked them and pick whichever of the four above matches what you found. If it's two of them, pick the one that's worse — you can come back and change it.
Survey your friends so you can prove you have a problem. Survey data is your negotiating leverage to fund this change.
It opens in Google Forms as your copy, under your account. Nothing you collect comes to us. Hit Send inside Forms to get the link you'll share in the next step.
Group chats, your story, the people you sit with at lunch.
Paste your form link where the message says to. 15–20 responses is enough to argue with; more is better.
These are the plays that work for your problem. Do more than one — they stack.
Ask the custodians for input
Do this one first, and do it in person. Custodians know which fixtures keep breaking, what has already been ordered, what admin turned down, and which of the ideas below would actually make their week worse. Nothing on this page happens without them, and almost nobody ever asks them anything.
You don't need a script. First time you pass one: “Hey, how are ya?” Second time, learn their name. Third time, the real conversation — open with “I wanted to say thank you for all the work you do here, and sorry about how nasty the bathrooms get,” and then ask:
- What breaks most often, and how do they hear about it?
- Is it a supply budget problem or a schedule problem?
- Who actually approves a repair — the school, or the district?
- What would they want a student to ask for?
Take notes. Half the blanks in the emails below get filled in by this conversation, and every one of them lands harder when you can say the custodial staff agrees.
Make an ally at the district office
One person is in charge of maintaining your bathrooms: the district's facilities director, or the director of buildings and grounds. A roll of toilet paper gets ordered? They know about it. This is the person with a repair budget, and almost nobody ever writes to them.
Email template — Student research on restroom conditions at [school name]
Dear [Director of Buildings and Grounds], I surveyed [#] students at [school name] about our bathrooms. [Y]% said they avoid using them during the school day, and my inspection of [#] bathrooms found [what you found]. The specific problems are [list the two or three worst: e.g. "four of eight stalls have no working latch" / "two of six sinks don't run"]. I know restroom repairs compete with a lot of other work, so I've tried to bring you something specific rather than a complaint. Would you be open to a short conversation about what it would take to get these on a work order, and whether any of it fits in this year's budget? I'm available [days and times you're free] and I'm happy to walk the bathrooms with you or with our custodial staff. Thank you for everything you do to keep [school name] running. With hope and gratitude, A concerned student at [school name]
Put a one-page plan on the principal's desk
Principals say no to problems and yes to plans. Fill in this restroom improvement plan template with your survey numbers, your inspection results, the specific fixes and a rough cost — then print it and hand it over. From there it's something they can forward, which is the only way anything moves in a district.
Email template — A one-page restroom plan, and 10 minutes of your time
Dear [Principal's name], You do a lot to keep this school running, and I know the bathrooms aren't at the top of the list. They're at the top of mine, so I did the work first. I surveyed [#] students at [school name] about our bathrooms. [Y]% said they avoid using them during the school day, and my inspection of [#] bathrooms found [what you found]. I've written a one-page restroom improvement plan with the specific repairs, an estimated cost, and who would need to approve each one. Could I get ten minutes to walk you through it? I've already spoken with [custodian's name] about what's realistic day to day. I'm not asking you to fix this on your own — I'm asking you to back it when I take it to the district. With hope and gratitude, A concerned student at [school name]
If they say there's no money: ask a local plumber
Local plumbers will do small jobs for reduced cost for flyers sent home in student's backpacks or a banner with their business on it at home games.
Email template — Would you fix a high school bathroom at reduced cost?
Hi [plumber's name], I'm a student at [school name]. Our bathrooms are in bad shape — [describe the two or three specific things: e.g. "three toilets that don't flush and two stall doors off their hinges"] — and the school says there's no budget for it this year. Would you do the work at a reduced cost in exchange for advertising? We can offer [flyers sent home in students' backpacks / a banner with your business on it at home games]. Around [#] families would see it. If you'd want to look at what's involved first, I can arrange that any [day of the week]. Thank you for considering it — a lot of students here genuinely don't use the bathroom all day. With hope and gratitude, A concerned student at [school name]
Run an "adopt a bathroom" campaign
Every club, team and health class gets assigned a bathroom to look after. You partner with a custodian to keep it decent and to submit work orders when something breaks. Custodians will love the help, and you need them anyway to get the work-order system set up.
Turn it into a competition — nicest-smelling bathroom, best place to take care of business, superlatives in the yearbook. This is also the fix for damage that keeps coming back: vandalism is a "screw you" to the school, and nobody wants to say that to the person sitting next to them in algebra.
If your school isn't the kind of place where people show up for spirit week, you'll need social referents first.
Email template — Students want to adopt the bathrooms — can we?
Dear [Principal's name], I surveyed [#] students at [school name] about our bathrooms. [Y]% said they avoid using them during the school day, and my inspection of [#] bathrooms found [what you found]. Instead of asking you for money, I want to ask for permission. Students are willing to do this ourselves: every club and team adopts one bathroom, keeps an eye on it, and reports what's broken through a form that goes straight to custodial staff. What we'd need from you: an OK to talk to club advisors, a short conversation with [head custodian's name] about how work orders get submitted, and permission to put a small sign in each bathroom. Could I get ten minutes to explain how it would run? With hope and gratitude, A concerned student at [school name]
Get sports teams to clean up as team building
Ask a coach whether their athletes would take on a bathroom. Show them the survey data, and explain that you can't make a tackle with a brick in your tummy.
Then at the next pep rally: the team comes in with plungers, tells poop jokes, and asks everyone to stand up and "take one step forward if you've ever not gone to the bathroom because you felt uncomfortable in there." Half the gym steps forward. That is the moment the room stops thinking this is just you complaining.
This one works when the mess is a once-a-month problem rather than something that gets undone by lunchtime.
Email template — A weird team-building idea for [team name]
Hi Coach [name], I surveyed [#] students at [school name] about our bathrooms and [Y]% said they avoid using them all day. It's a health thing — there's real research on what holding it does long term. Would your team be up for adopting a bathroom? Once a month, twenty minutes, as team building. And if you'd be open to it, a moment at the next pep rally where the team makes it clear that respecting the bathrooms is a school thing, not a rule. Athletes are the people this school actually listens to. That's why I'm asking you first. With hope and gratitude, A concerned student at [school name]
Set up reporting that actually reaches a custodian
Most schools have no way for a student to say "the soap is empty" the moment they notice it, so nothing gets reported until someone complains to an adult days later. The cheap version fixes that in an afternoon:
- Make a copy of the form and repurpose it: which bathroom, what's wrong, how urgent.
- Print a QR code for it and tape one inside each stall — ask your custodian and principal first.
- Turn on email notifications so every response lands in the head custodian's inbox. Google Forms does this for free.
Let custodians shape the form before you print anything — they're the ones acting on every report. And keep a visible "reported → fixed" log, because the thing that kills a reporting system is people deciding it goes nowhere.
Email template — Can we give students a way to report broken restroom fixtures?
Dear [name], Right now, when a dispenser is empty or a stall door breaks at [school name], there's no way for a student to tell anyone — so it sits until someone happens to mention it. [#] students I surveyed said they'd report problems if there were a way to. I'd like to set up a simple form students can reach from a QR code in each bathroom, with responses emailed straight to custodial staff. It costs nothing and I'll build and maintain it. Before I print anything I'd want [head custodian's name] to shape the questions, since they're the ones acting on it. Could we talk about whether this is something you'd support? With hope and gratitude, A concerned student at [school name]
Replace the graffiti with art
Get permission from your principal and a yes from your custodian to let students paint over the graffiti. Your art teacher will help; they have been waiting years for someone to ask.
The trick is making sure tagging the art doesn't become the new funny thing. Two ways that work: illustrate the bathrooms with graffiti, so everyone can add something, or go talk to the people doing the tagging and ask what they'd want to see. Give them the choice and they stop wanting to paint over it.
Admin will tell you students are the problem and always will be. Ask whether they've ever been at a school that moved into a new building — did the vandalism stop? It does. People don't respect the space because the space doesn't respect them.
Email template — Can students paint the bathrooms instead of scrubbing them?
Dear [Principal's name], The graffiti in our bathrooms gets painted over and comes back within the week. I'd like to try the thing that actually works at other schools: letting students illustrate the walls themselves. I surveyed [#] students at [school name] about our bathrooms. [Y]% said they avoid using them during the school day, and my inspection of [#] bathrooms found [what you found]. What I'm asking for: permission for a student-run mural in [which bathroom], supervised by [art teacher's name], with designs approved by you before anything goes on a wall, and a conversation with [head custodian's name] about paint and timing. We'd fundraise for materials. The students who tag the bathrooms get a say in the design. That is the part that makes it stick. With hope and gratitude, A concerned student at [school name]
Get the supplies budget fixed, not just refilled
An empty dispenser is either a budget problem or a restocking-schedule problem, and the two have completely different fixes. Find out which before you ask: your custodian will tell you in thirty seconds.
If it's the schedule, the reporting system below is the whole fix. If it's the budget, you're talking about $200–300 a year against a long-term health risk — and the two studies below are what make that land: high school obstacles to bathroom use and consequences for the urinary tract.
Email template — Restroom supplies at [school name] — $200 problem, health-sized consequence
Dear [Director of Buildings and Grounds], I surveyed [#] students at [school name] about our bathrooms. [Y]% said they avoid using them during the school day, and my inspection of [#] bathrooms found [what you found]. The specific issue is supplies: [#] of the bathrooms I checked had no soap, paper towels or toilet paper, and [#] of them had been empty for [how long]. Several stall doors also don't latch, which means students won't use them at all. There's research linking inadequate restroom access at school to long-term urinary health problems — I'm glad to send it. Against that, this looks like a few hundred dollars a year. Could we talk about three things: whether the supply budget for our building is enough, how often bathrooms are scheduled for restocking, and whether students could submit work orders when something runs out? With hope and gratitude, A concerned student at [school name]
You emailed, and weeks went by. The board is where this stops being a thing your principal can sit on: public comment goes in the minutes, and the minutes are public forever. Bring pictures. Pictures are the entire reason this works.
Photos stay on your phone. They go into the packet you print and the form you fill out yourself — nothing is uploaded to us.
The packet opens as a printable page with your photos, your survey numbers and your ask. Save it as a PDF: that's the handout for board members and the attachment on the follow-up email.
Before you go
- Check your district site for the public comment sign-up. Most need you to sign up in advance and cap you at 2–3 minutes.
- Tell your principal you're going, and why. A board that hears it from a student and sees the principal already knew is far more likely to act than one that thinks it's being ambushed.
- Hand the packet to board members on paper. Things you can hold get read.
Public comment — two minutes, read it out loud first
My name is [your name, or "I'm a student here and I'd rather not give my name"], and I'm a [grade] grader at [school name]. I surveyed [#] students at [school name] about our bathrooms. [Y]% said they avoid using them during the school day, and my inspection of [#] bathrooms found [what you found]. I'm not here about comfort. There's research linking inadequate restroom access at school to long-term urinary health problems, and students at this school are holding it for seven hours. I brought this to [principal's name] on [date] and to [district contact] on [date]. I've brought photographs for the board, taken [when]. I'm asking the board to [your ask: approve funding for these repairs / add restroom conditions to the next facilities review / direct the district to respond to our restroom improvement plan]. Thank you for your time.
Email template — Following up on restroom conditions raised at the [date] board meeting
Dear [Board member or clerk], Thank you for hearing my comment at the [date] meeting about restroom conditions at [school name]. I wanted to follow up in writing with the data I referenced. I surveyed [#] students at [school name] about our bathrooms. [Y]% said they avoid using them during the school day, and my inspection of [#] bathrooms found [what you found]. Attached is a one-page restroom improvement plan with the specific fixes and an estimated cost, along with photographs taken on [date]. I'd welcome the chance to discuss it at a future meeting, or with district facilities staff directly. With hope and gratitude, A concerned student at [school name]
Still nothing? Reach out to us: we can help with funding, navigating school politics, and changing school culture.
Email template — Student at [school name] — need help with our bathrooms
Hi Ben, I'm a student at [school name]. I need help with [what you need: funding / talking to admin / getting other students on board / something else]. I'm stuck on [what's blocking you right now]. So far I've [what you've already tried, if anything]. Thanks, [your name]
the bathrooms here are genuinely disgusting and i'm doing something about it 🚽
this is a 1 minute survey about the bathrooms at our school. i'm taking the results to admin, and if they don't do anything, to the school board.
[paste your form link]
takes literally one minute. every response is one more reason they can't say it's just me complaining.
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Email template — Student at [school name] — need help with our bathrooms
Hi Ben, I'm a student at [school name]. I need help with [what you need: funding / talking to admin / getting other students on board / something else]. I'm stuck on [what's blocking you right now]. So far I've [what you've already tried, if anything]. Thanks, [your name]