“Operation Scrub” is a countywide initiative created in 2005 by Miami-Dade County School Board member Dr. Marta Pérez. The program is designed to allow students, parents, staff and visitors to report on the cleanliness, supplies, broken fixtures, flooding and vandalism observed in any public school bathroom in Miami-Dade County.

Those concerned may report any problems to scrub.dadeschools.net or call 1-800-20SCRUB. Once a report is received by the school board, it is then e-mailed to the principal.

After receiving eight reports about the dirtiness and lack of supplies in Krop’s bathrooms, Principal Mathew Welker assigned a janitor to check the bathrooms beginning at 7:20 a.m. until 2:30 p.m., in order to make sure that they are clean and not missing supplies.

Welker informs Assistant Principal Wallace Aristide, whose responsibilities include custodial services, to make sure that the reports’ suggestions are enacted and that all bathrooms are sanitary.

Although “Operation Scrub” posters are placed in all bathrooms, a random survey conducted by The Lightning Strike reveals that few students are aware of “Operation Scrub.” Only five of the 100 students surveyed had heard of it.

Since the beginning of the school year, there have been only eight reports given about Krop’s bathrooms, which is 0.218 percent of the school population.

While one might interpret the low percentage of reports as evidence that Krop’s bathrooms are sanitary, most disagree.

“There is urine all over the floor,” senior Jaewoo Chung reported via “Operation Scrub.”

He discovered the program unexpectedly while visiting www.dadeschools.net.

“I was [searching the website] and found a section about complaints,” he said. Chung claimed that every time he has used the bathrooms, he faced broken mirrors and a lack of paper towels.

The reports about Krop­—half given about the girls’ bathrooms and half given about the boys’ bathrooms—discuss urine on the floor, cockroaches and spiders inside the stalls and a lack of supplies.

Even though a janitor inspected the bathrooms throughout the week of Oct. 15-20, it was reported that there were no paper towels or soap throughout that entire week.

Although students constantly complain about the dirtiness of the bathrooms and blame the administration for it, students are the culprits. “I don’t use the bathrooms. It is your own peers who do it,” Welker said.

Quite often, students find themselves unable to use the bathrooms because they are unsanitary.

“The bathrooms are disgusting,” junior Cari Shapiro said. She explained that she avoids using the bathrooms but is forced to endure the dirtiness occasionally.

According to Dr. Kevin Pho, who is board certified in internal medicine, it is important for teenagers to use the restroom while in school.

“Postponement of urination for more than four to six hours on a routine basis is not healthy for the bladder. It predisposes for urinary tract infections and can stretch the bladder so as to compromise its contractility,” Pho said.

Welker’s future plans include installing electronic flush valves and hand dryers, and replacing the sinks.

These installations will first be put in the bathrooms across from the auditorium. If the results are favorable, they will be added to all bathrooms.