The message was very clear - Students have rights and some students were tired of having them violated. They were especially concerned about their right to use any bathroom on campus. Since the beginning of the semester, several of the Venice High School bathrooms had been locked routinely and inaccessible to students.

“For numerous weeks, I asked Dr. Mendoza over and over again...since the beginning of the semester,” said senior Peter Prior. "Ever since I’ve been a 9^th grader, I haven’t seen the bathrooms open."

Prior, along with Sonny Kim, Brennon Chen, Joey Breese, Devin Wash and Josh Gonzales, proceeded to organize a non-violent student protest for Feb. 8^th. Days before, he and other seniors began to hand out flyers announcing the protest, plus copies of the LAUSD policy on bathrooms, and a news article called “LAUSD, Fix Your Bathrooms!”

“I went online, to the LAUSD website, and I Googled the information...from there I got the idea to threaten to protest," said Prior. "I knew we were 100 percent in the right.”

State legislation passed in 2003 says closing bathrooms during non-class periods is illegal, according to the LAUSD “Policy on Restroom Access, Cleanliness and Repair.” The LAUSD policy calls for the availability of restrooms to adequately serve student needs. It also sets standards for the regular cleaning and repair of restrooms.

A group of seniors decided to exercise their First Amendment rights.

“I didn’t plan on going through with it [the protest], but the student body needs to be aware that they wield the power to do whatever they want on campus," said Prior. "I mean, they have the power to make their voice count, the power to make change happen.”

Although it took several days, the threat of protest successfully convinced the administration to re-open several bathrooms that had been closed for years. Currently, every bathroom on campus is to remain open until the end of lunch, according to what Prior was told.

“It was never authorized for bathrooms to be closed,” said Principal Elsa Mendoza. She said the students just spoke to her informally during lunch time, before announcing the protest. "I brought it back to my APs (assistant principals) and then to the custodians.”

“The east building [bathroom] has been closed for most of the semester and that’s really inconvenient, since you have to make a large detour just to get to class,"  declared senior Ryan Lambert. "It’s like pee or risk detention. Why should I have to risk detention? Sometimes I wonder if the school’s administration realizes the impact it has on closing a few key bathrooms around the school.”

“We were tired of the incompetence of our administration," continued Lambert. "I know the school’s administration does try hard but under the previous principal they shut them down because of things like graffiti. Really? I could care less about ink on a wall when I have to pee."

 “They closed them for a lot of reasons," said LAUSD Police Officer Richard Lunstedt. "Sometimes the kids smoke marijuana, sometimes it’s graffiti. They contain racial comments and a lot of profanity. We don’t want to have racial problems, and we don’t. We don’t lock them up to be mean. Yet, there’s not any one reason. It’s also a supervision issue and a safety issue.”

When questioned about the protest threat, Dr. Mendoza responded, “Any time we have possible student demonstrations, we want to hear them out. The law says they have a right to voice their concerns. We would have had them meet in the auditorium, in an organized manner.” 

“I want to ensure that kids don’t misuse instructional time," continued Dr. Mendoza. "I am the defender of instructional time. Every minute you’re not in class you’re missing something. There’s a time and place for everything.”

“I want to thank the student body as a whole," said Prior. "They were really supportive. They have to keep them open. The second they do close them, we’ll start up again,” he warned.

On Feb. the 23^rd, at 5 p.m., the principal will have a meeting in the auditorium with the parents and students of Venice High regarding any issues or concerns they might have.

Prior and friends agreed with the administration that students are part of the problem behind the closures.

“Students should be cleaning up after themselves,” said Prior. “I feel like a lot of the kids tagging are little kids that think that makes them cool.”

“This is your school…it’s the right thing to do. It’s the hygienic thing to do. If I see trash, I pick it up and I expect everyone to do the same. Please,” urged Dr. Mendoza.