Local high school installs ‘jail cell’ doors on bathrooms – then removes them

MONROE, NC – Bathrooms at a Union County, North Carolina high school are stirring up chatter online. Photos are circulating on social media showing padlocked metal doors resembling a jail cell over three bathrooms at Monroe High School.

Students say they already had to sign out on their Chrome Books to use the restroom and there were blackout times for the bathroom use. Apparently, that wasn’t enough to stop what school officials say were ongoing safety concerns in the bathrooms.

A spokeswoman for Union County School District says Monroe High School installed the sliding metal doors with padlocks over Christmas break to address ongoing safety concerns. Students tell WCCB the doors were locked so they could only use certain restrooms during certain times.

The district spokeswoman says the UCPS Facilities Department installed the doors and administrators were aware, but after senior leadership found out, the doors were removed on January 6th. By that time, the doors had already started stirring chatter online from parents, students, teachers and community members.

In a Facebook group one person said “Denying children use of facilities should be illegal.” Another said, “no issue with the door or the restrictions if they’re truly necessary, but where is the data showing issues are worse at this school and none at the other schools?”

WCCB asked the district spokeswoman for details about the ongoing safety concerns she wouldn’t say much but she did say vaping is one problem.

Some parents hope the school keeps them in the loop about bathroom policy changes.

“I didn’t even know they were putting them up I didn’t know anything about it so that’s a concern in itself that we were not notified about it,” one parent said.

WCCB asked the district how much it cost to install the doors. The spokeswoman told us to submit an official public records request. There’s no timeline how long it might take for them to give us an answer.