Thursday, Jan. 08, 2009

Turlock classrooms get emergency potties for lockdowns

TOILETS: A lockdown can last for hours

TURLOCK — They are now fixtures in every classroom.

Teachers returned from winter break to find a bathroom-in-a-box on their desks, complete with toilet paper and all the accessories, marked "For Lockdown Only."

Staff members assembled the kits to use during long-term lockdowns, such as the four hours Patterson High School students spent in their classrooms last fall when fights broke out on campus.

Shielded by their classmates, Patterson teens used trash cans as toilets until police allowed students and teachers to go outside.

The incident spurred school superintendents across Stanislaus County to discuss ways to make sure history was not repeated.

Hence, in Turlock, the emergency toilets. Maintenance workers put together 701 of them over the winter break, enough to supply every classroom in the district that needed one. They cost $20 each, or about $14,000 total, the equivalent of nearly 200 high school textbooks.

"It's a small price to pay for personal dignity," said Patricia McGuire, an assistant superintendent.

Most lockdowns last just minutes. But some can last hours, like the two-hour lockdown experienced by several Turlock elementary, middle and high schools last fall.

School violence is only one reason to keep students in their classrooms. Police will tell administrators to lock down a school if they are chasing a criminal suspect or conducting a raid nearby.

Melanie Chancellor, a teacher at Crowell Elementary, still remembers what it was like three years ago to be locked inside her classroom for almost two hours.

"I had kids who needed to go," Chancellor said. "So I was like, 'We all have to hold it.' It was hard on the kids."

Chancellor eyed a spot next to her desk where she plans to set up her emergency lavatory. There is a plastic seat, steadied by steel legs, and a plastic bag in lieu of a bowl.

On Monday, Turlock High teenagers looked quizzically at the plain cardboard box that housed their classroom commode. Their teacher had offered extra credit for whoever guessed what it contained.

A student began to read the contents: a roll of toilet paper, disposable liners, a tarp (to create privacy in the corner of a room), chemical packs, hand sanitizer wipes, disposal liners and, of course, a folding toilet.

Then came the laughter.

The students, understandably giggly and embarrassed about the thought of relieving themselves among their peers, claimed they could wait. Under any circumstances.

But when you gotta go ...

Bee staff writer Merrill Balassone can be reached at mbalassone@modbee.com or 578-2337.