City and School District Working Together for Free and Accessible Menstrual Products
Access
expanding in municipal buildings alongside pilot in Columbus City Schools to
provide menstrual products in restrooms
Council
Pro Tem Elizabeth Brown uses a menstrual product dispenser at the Columbus City
Preparatory School for Girls, as City Schools Superintendent/CEO Dr. Talisa
Dixon laughs in the background.
Columbus, Ohio – Council
President Pro Tem Elizabeth Brown and Columbus City Schools Superintendent/CEO
Dr. Talisa Dixon announced today, August 23, 2019, a joint effort to improve
menstrual product access by making them available inside bathrooms. The first
day of school also marked the beginning of a pilot program in the District at
the Columbus City Preparatory School for Girls (CCPSG). The City, in addition
to expanding access across its fleet of recreation centers, will phase in
access in all municipal buildings starting with its downtown campus.
“A monthly period is a normal bodily function for half the
population just as going to the bathroom is for everyone, but there isn’t any
evidence of this in most bathrooms,” said President Pro Tem Brown. “While free
toilet paper and soap are universally provided in public restrooms, this is
rarely, if ever, the case with tampons and pads.”
A national study commissioned by Free the Tampons, a
Columbus-based non-profit that aims to end restroom inequality, found that 86
percent of women have started their periods while out in public without the
supplies they need — 79 percent end up creating makeshift substitutes out of
toilet paper. Inadequate access to menstrual products is also connected to
unhealthy overuse of singular products and to lost productivity at school and
work.
As part of the District’s pilot at CCPSG, half a dozen free
dispensers have been installed in the bathrooms and include messaging that
encourages students with questions about their menstrual cycle to talk with the
school nurse.
"We always strive to eliminate barriers to academic success
for our students, and this program speaks to those ongoing efforts," said
Dr. Dixon. "While we have made menstrual products available to girls in
the nurse's office for quite some time, this new pilot program have made them
even more accessible and more convenient. Our school nurses, of course, will
still be available to answer questions or address concerns, but the convenience
factor of having the dispenser in the restroom will allow our students to be
more focused on learning."
For more than 40 years, menstrual products have been available
to the District’s students through the school nurse’s office. Making them
readily accessible ensures that students will have the products at the time of
need: in the bathroom. “As menstrual products move into bathrooms in the
District, school nurses will continue a decades-long tradition serving as a
valuable resource to menstruating students,” said Columbus City Schools
Director of Health, Family and Community Services Kate King. “The school nurse
is a trusted ally, expert and confidant who can provide health education and
counseling to students about their developing bodies.”
In 2017, the City launched a pilot program that made menstrual
products free and accessible in select recreation centers. Because of its
success, the City is currently in the process of extending that same access in
all recreation centers. Following this announcement, the City will also phase
in menstrual product access across municipal buildings, beginning with the
downtown campus that includes City Hall, the Michael B. Coleman Building, the
Columbus Police Headquarters, and 77 North Front Street.
“We’re taking critical steps forward in the effort to improve
menstrual product access and to fight the stigma that has for too long
precluded a conversation about a basic need experienced by half our
population,” said President Pro Tem Brown. “Can you think of any restroom
outside your home where you are expected to bring a roll of toilet paper with
you into the stall? Unlikely. Menstrual products should be no different.”