Koo Wee Rup Secondary College under fire for vaping measures

Koo Wee Rup Secondary College has taken dramatic measures to stop students vaping — and parents are not happy about it.

Students at a school in Melbourne’s southeast have been locked out of bathrooms over vaping concerns, with parents labelling the move as “outrageous”.

Koo Wee Rup Secondary College parents were sent a letter from the school earlier this week saying school wide toilets had been locked, with students asked to “request an access card to use the toilet”.

The Herald Sun understands that students have been locked out of the bathrooms after complaints of vaping and other anti-social behaviour at recess and lunchtime.

The letter to parents said: “Students are now required to swipe a staff member’s access card to enter.

Brightly coloured vape pens appeal to students. Picture: Tim Hunter

“During class time students will request an access card to access the toilet, they will have to use this card to open the toilet door and must return the card to the staff member as soon as they return.

“At recess there are only two toilets available, (male) Year 8 Building and (female) Year 10 locker bay. Before and after school, a student may request a staff member’s card to access the toilets.”

A mother of a year 9 student labelled the move as “outrageous”.

“How can you lock students out of bathrooms? This is a high school not a prison.

The teachers should better patrol the toilets on yard duty instead of resorting to these extreme measures,” she said.

A female student who attends the school told the Herald Sun that she was left “humiliated” when blood leaked onto her dress during her search for an open bathroom after she began menstruating on Monday.

Student’s vaping is a key concern across Victorian schools. Picture: John Appleyard

She said a male teacher refused to unlock a toilet using the new access cards despite her “desperate” pleas to use the toilet.

“I have never felt more humiliated in my life. I can’t believe that my school took away my right and would not allow me to go to the toilet. I felt so uncomfortable and had blood on my dress for the rest of the day,” she said.

“I had to go to the head office to ask to use their toilets and they would not let me, but I kept arguing and they eventually let me.”

Some parents also lashed out at the move on social media, saying it was “ridiculous” to lock students out of toilets.

“I’m wondering if the school has taken into consideration students that have a medical condition such as IBS, these kids are going to have to line up at recess or lunch or find a teacher to give them access to a toilet before the shit themselves,” one person wrote.

“If the school hasn’t thought about this I can see serious action taken against the school,” he said.

A Department of Education spokeswoman said: “Students at all schools across the state can access the toilets with permission during classroom hours”.

The Department would not confirm whether the policy impacted female students differently to male students.

It is understood the school is trialling the new bathroom system.