Taped into the entryway of the girls’ bathroom on the second floor of the H Building is a sign that reads: “Please (I'm a) custodian begging all the student(s) to stop writing (on) the restroom’s walls, it’s not good to do that. Please stop it because custodial (staff would love for) all the student(s) to respect everyone.”
This message, written by Berkeley High School custodian John Mensah, was posted because of a problem that every student at BHS is aware of — the bathrooms. Notoriously dirty and missing objects such as mirrors, paper towel dispensers, and even locks, BHS’ bathrooms are infamous among students and staff alike. A survey conducted by Jacket found that 7 out of 14 sinks in the girls’ bathrooms in the C and H Buildings were broken at the end of a school day.
Towards the end of the school year, students may notice that appliances stay broken for longer and missing materials aren’t replaced as quickly. According to the custodial staff, this occurs because the supplies needed to replenish and maintain the bathrooms often surpass the amount that was estimated at the beginning of the year, and once that happens it can be difficult to restock. Custodians must then contact administrators for new supplies, who will follow up with the appropriate contacts to procure the necessary items. “Sometimes (custodians) cannot do anything because (there are) no more supplies. We wait for the district to give us some supplies,” Edwin Asis, BHS custodian, said.
While this method can be effective for restocking bathrooms, it’s very costly, often exceeding the funds allocated for supplies. For the 2025-26 school year, custodial supplies — such as product refills, appliance replacements/repairs, and general cleaning supplies — made up 4.26 percent of Berkeley Unified School District’s Annual Plan. Some custodians, seeing the large amount of money spent on refills firsthand, fear that it detracts from their wages. Their hope is that if less restocks were needed, their salaries might be higher.
These supplies don’t run out because they’re being used at higher rates than was estimated — they run out because students waste them. It’s not uncommon to walk into a bathroom and see floors covered with paper towels, and stalls with toilet paper rolls that have been unrolled onto the floor.
Not every student contributes to these conditions, but it’s frequent enough that many bathrooms are nearly unusable. Writing on the walls, leaving trash on the floor, and breaking the machines is a display of blatant disrespect for custodians and fellow students as well as disregard for the integrity of the bathrooms. No matter if they’ve wasted supplies and dirtied a bathroom or not, all students are responsible for the state of shared spaces like these.
The next time students enter a BHS bathroom, they should intentionally use the facilities respectfully. As members of the BHS community, we owe each other the amount of respect and thoughtfulness due, especially to the custodial staff.