Throughout my four years I’ve been at Westford Academy, one problem has stuck out the most- no soap in the restrooms.

It has come to the point where girls and other samaritans are leaving bottles of soap in the restrooms for others to use. Is it not the school’s job to supply us with hygiene products to ensure we have a clean environment?

There’s no surprise that we have had our second MRSA outbreak in the past two years; the disease is most common in hospitals and other unsanitary locations. We need to maintain a safe environment where students cannot be worrying about catching a disease after being on the turf during PE class.

While the school may not want to splurge on some soap, it certainly does not mind spending money on vending machines, Chromebooks, and phone pockets.

Senior girls have also expressed their frustration over the filthy conditions of the restrooms.

“How are we supposed to wash our hands and be clean without soap? That’s gross. We have some nice people who buy soap but that’s sad, we should not be responsible for supplying the soap,” senior, Maya Kapur said.

I went and inspected the girls’ bathrooms on the first and second floors and uncovered that four out of eight restrooms had no soap in the dispensers. Three of the restrooms had a few bottles of soap that were brought in by the students themselves.

With the flu season coming up, I hope that WA replenishes on its sanitation supplies. I do not expect the school to be administrating flu shots every year but the least it could do is not contribute to the spread of germs.

After writing this, I feel the need to thoroughly wash my hands because I really do not know how many of my peers have gone to the restroom without using soap. It is really a disturbing thought and I hope administration fixes this problem before I graduate.