By: Amara Martinez
Next school year, free feminine hygiene products will be available in Albuquerque Public Schools bathrooms, after three Albuquerque Academy students convinced the Legislature to pass a law that provides the products. Public schools will have them in girls’ and some boys’ bathrooms.
There are going to be hygiene products in boys’ bathrooms for boys to bring home to their moms and sisters, or for transgender boys.
“I think that it is a good idea because maybe some families can’t afford that stuff, so I think the school providing it could be very helpful,” LCHS freshman Carlos Martinez said.
Another freshman, Ria Fielder, said, “I think it's a good idea. I think it’s beneficial if you can’t afford it or if you don’t have those products with you.”
Frankie Segura, freshman, said, “I don’t care, but I already know they're going to get messed with. People just don’t care. They could ask the son to get them the products they need, so I think that’s very beneficial.”
La Cueva High School school nurse, Christine Green, has mixed views on the products’ availability and said her office already has a budget to purchase them. “If it’s being used for the boys to take home to their moms, then yes, that is a good idea,” she said. “But we have a bathroom for both boys and girls in the nurse's office that has everything they could ever need in here.”
Assistant Principal Brian Hubbell said he does not yet know details about the products’ availability in bathrooms next year. He assumes they are going to be put in during the summer so they will be there next school year. He also assumes the products are going to be in some kind of dispenser so the products are not wasted.