By: Sanjana Jain, Design Editor
In accordance with the newly passed House Bill 0205, the Howard County Public School System installed feminine hygiene product dispensers in women’s bathrooms at all high schools in Howard County. As stated in the bill, these dispensers will contain “size–appropriate tampons or sanitary napkins for use in connection with the menstrual cycle,” and will be filled on a regular basis by each school’s custodial staff.
The purpose of this bill is to ensure that all menstruating students who attend a public school in Maryland have access to menstrual products when necessary. “I hope it means less missed instructional time,” said Principal Mikaela Lidgard, “I think there are times when people who menstruate can’t predict when they’re going to have their cycle…and there are multiple places now in the building where students can get access to menstrual products will mean they will be able to take care of their health wellness and get right back to class.”
Reducing the amount of missed instructional time (not only during school hours but in general) seems to be one of the primary focuses of the bill. Written testimonies in favor of passing the bill were presented to the Maryland General Assembly on January 27, 2021. The anticipation is that after the installment of dispensers, students will feel more comfortable attending school while menstruating knowing that they have continuous access to necessary products. Several of these testimonies under this bill mention that providing access to free and available menstrual products “increases school attendance and extracurricular participation,” as stated by Laura Stewart, the VP of the Montgomery County Council of Parent Teacher Associations (MCCPTA). Stewart went on to comment that “statistics indicate that nearly one-in-five American girls have left school early or missed school entirely due to an inability to access menstrual products” (MSPA).
Stress is also an important factor to be considered when discussing menstruation. As stated in her testimony before the General Assembly, Alina Glass from Happy Period Baltimore touches on the obsessive tampon changing and “a quick ‘Can you check me’ to [her] friends,” which is a common occurrence for any menstruating student. Along with stress, embarrassment is also on students’ minds. “Because of societal stigmatization of menstruation, it can be difficult to talk to even your parents about your period, let alone ask a teacher for a pad or tampon,” said Alina in her testimony. “By providing free products in restrooms, students could completely avoid this uncomfortable situation and be on their periods in school stress-free.”
“This will make life so much easier,” continued junior Kayla Garnett. “You won’t have to text a friend who’s in a class on the other side of the school and meet up for a pad because now you’ll be able to go into the bathroom and get one.”
Two bathrooms – the women’s bathroom near the cafeteria and the women’s bathroom in the arts hallway – had dispensers installed. These dispensers will contain T500 tampons and MT-4 maxi-pads which are free-to-use and available to all students. The Howard County Public Schools Purchasing Department has confirmed the delivery of 196 dispensers, 234,000 T500, & 156,000 MT-4 for the 2022-23 school year, and will order more based on need.
River Hill’s female students noticed the installation of these dispensers immediately, but were initially unsure of their purpose. Junior Grace Li said, “I did hear about the installation of pad and tampon dispensers, but I heard conflicting opinions and someone said it was free but someone else said that you had to pay for them. I think if it’s going to be implemented, the maintenance of them should be prioritized more by whoever’s installing them.”
“They’re a step in the right direction. I am so proud of the school for finally getting these in, but to me they are long overdue,” said Kayla. “I feel like so many places have period dispensers but they’re not free, even though our period is not something that we can control. It’s not something that we should have to pay for,” she said.
Initially this bill was pre-filed (formally proposed and submitted before the legislative session began) on September 24, 2020, and its first hearing took place on December 22 in front of the Maryland House of Delegates. On February 25 2021, the third reading occurred and votes were cast. Out of the 141 Maryland state Delegates, 93 voted Yea and 43 voted Nay.
After this success, the bill was passed to the Senate of Maryland. On March 31, the third reading passed; all 47 senators voted in favor of passing the bill. Once it was re-reviewed in the original chamber, it was passed to Maryland Governor, Larry Hogan, for his signature. However, Governor Hogan failed to sign the bill within 30 days of it reaching him, allowing the bill to become a law without his signature.
Passing bills is a combined legislative effort, but one student of River Hill’s 2022 graduating class was instrumental in having this bill passed. Current Rice University freshman Riya Seth worked closely with lobbyists to achieve this feat, and explained that she “saw a need in our community. I always felt like it was really inconvenient that there weren’t pads or tampons in our bathrooms and the fact that we had to go to the nurse’s office was a huge inconvenience.”
Riya explained how an organization she was interning at was a part of NARAL Pro-Choice America, and that organization was responsible for “[lobbying] different legislators,” and that she “testified for the bill once it was introduced; I wrote up a written testimony.” She is currently working on figuring out how to begin the process of installing similar dispensers at Rice University.
Apart from Riya’s efforts and the several written and verbal testimonies from various organizations, the HB205 is sponsored by Democrat Kirill Reznik – one of the three members of the Maryland House of Delegates from District 39. He has helped pass or sponsored several bills similar to this one, bills that have and will greatly improve the quality of thousands of students’ school lives.
As stated by Megan White – an elementary school teacher in a Baltimore City Public School – in her written testimony: “It is at the heart of public education to not only meet students’ academic needs but also their physical ones.”