If you talk to boys at North Platte High School, they’ll tell you that the upstairs bathroom sinks have been broken since last spring. Have you ever wondered why they aren’t working yet?

“Last year when people were sitting on them, they were causing them to break, and we had to replace them,” said assistant principal Micah Fisher. “It was very expensive for something that happened five or six times.”

Many students think the sinks are not being fixed as a punishment for others vandalizing them. “It’s a, ‘you broke the sinks so you have to deal with it,’” said  junior Aaron Franz.

The school says that’s not true. When the maintenance team repaired the sinks last year, according to Fisher, they were apparently not alerted that the problem was also the sensors on the faucets. The administration also said they were not informed that the sensors were dead. “Once we were aware of it, when you had the [North Platte Bulldogger survey] question go out, we sent out a maintenance request to get them fixed,” said Fisher

In responding to a survey about the bathroom, several students commented about the inconvenience about not having all of the sinks available. “Sometimes when people are crowded, it’s impossible to wash your hands,” the responder said. “I have to use hand sanitizer when I get the chance.”

The school haspaid a significant amount of money to repair broken sinks. “I’d say we’ve spent anywhere from 

$3 thousand to $4 thousand so far on sinks,” said Fisher.

The administration has some new interesting views on the bathrooms for the future. “You know how in elementary school, the sinks are on the outside, it’s kind of the same,” said Fisher. “We’ve brainstormed a couple other ideas, but they’re still just ideas.”

According to administration, you may see a couple of new changes around the school. “We are trying to cut down on the whole class taking bathroom breaks,” said Fisher. “Kids don’t need to be going to the bathroom 5 or 6 times a day.”

The administration would like you to know that if you see someone breaking or vandalizing, something don’t just watch it happen. “That’s why we have the See Something, Say Something app,” said Fisher, “because a lot of kids don’t like to come talk to us.”