Students made to sign out toilet paper

MAHANOY CITY, Pa., Jan. 28 (UPI) -- A Pennsylvania parent said boys at her son's high school are being forced to ask for toilet paper when they need to use the restroom.

Karen Yedsena of Mahanoy City told the school board Thursday the policy, which officials said was put in place after repeated acts of toilet-paper related vandalism, is embarrassing to the students and leads many to fake sick to go home rather than sign out a roll of bathroom tissue from the office, The (Pottsville) Republican-Herald reported Monday.

Principal Thomas Smith told Yedsena the policy has been effective in curbing vandalism.

"We've had serious destruction to our bathrooms for the past two years," Smith said. "We have a case pending with the police where a bathroom down by our gymnasium was absolutely destroyed. I'm sure Mr. [Robert] Pastucha [district facilities director] could tell you the times that our toilets have been jammed with toilet paper and other papers. And after we took the toilet tissue out of there, people were throwing books. It was our way to try to curb the destruction in the bathrooms."

Smith said he would be willing to revisit the policy, but the sign-out system would be reinstated if there were any further cases of vandalism.