Student-led Organizing at Morton Schools Met with Inaction from Administrators
Illustration by Emily (Instagram @Paintbristle)
By Irene Romulo
In Cicero and Berwyn it is common to see teenagers walking around wearing maroon shirts and khaki pants as they go about their day. The colors are emblematic of the J. Sterling High Schools in District 201, which have required these colors as part of the school uniform policy since at least 2013.
Now, students at Morton West are asking for changes to the uniform policy. The campaign is one of several organizing efforts launched by students in District 201 this year. To date, none of the campaigns have received public support from school administrators.
Metzli Flores, a Morton West senior, is one of the students pushing the district to include black pants as part of the school uniform policy in order to reduce the visibility of period stains for menstruating students. She said she first brought up the proposal to the district superintendent during her sophomore year with no results. She revived the efforts this year after seeing a sophomore student with stained pants walking inside the school.
“I had to walk her to the nurse’s office because she was new to the halls and you could tell she was embarrassed. I just felt really bad,” Flores explained in a recent phone interview.
In early September, several Morton students showed up at the District 201 board meeting with blood-red tissue paper tucked inside their pants to symbolize period stains.
“Raise your hand if you've ever had a period and bled through your pants,” asked Ashley Novoa, the first person to speak during the public comment section of the meeting. Novoa heads the Chicago Period Project, an organization whose mission is to support every menstruating person to experience their periods with dignity. Parents and students contacted Novoa asking for her support.
At the board meeting, many students recounted experiences where they felt embarrassed, and even bullied, over period stains. One student read aloud testimonies from other classmates who could not attend the meeting. Students and parents talked about how expensive it can be to replace stained pants and the unpredictable nature of periods. Non-menstruating students like Adrian Jaurequi, one of the student representatives on the district board, expressed his support and said that adding black pants to the school uniform policy seemed like an easy solution.
While the group of students leading the efforts may be small, Elena Rebeca Gutiérrez, associate professor of Gender and Women’s studies at UIC, says the students’ efforts can be seen as part of a worldwide movement to achieve what she calls period equity. She said that in order to have a positive learning environment, students who menstruate should have access to free menstrual products and not have to worry about staining themselves. Novoa expressed similar sentiments.
“It's exciting to see them mobilizing and continuing a long-standing effort by women of color to achieve reproductive justice,” said Gutiérrez. “They're pushing the boundaries to demand something that is essential self-care.”
Discussing periods in public spaces, she says, also brings to light “taboo” subjects.
“Especially in Latinx communities, periods are something we don't talk about,” Gutiérrez explained. “[The students] bringing it out of the shadows encourages those who menstruate to take control of their menstrual health and cultivate their bodily autonomy and integrity. This public discourse changes culture...these issues are political and important topics that deserve attention.”
The district superintendent did not respond to Cicero Independiente’s emailed questions about the students’ demands. But in a statement shared with CBS 2, Tim Truesdale said, “The District is always willing to discuss students’ concerns and identify solutions...we met with a student advocating a change in our uniform policy and her parent. At that meeting, all parties agreed to have further discussions.”
Flores said students have generally been supportive of the campaign. She said some of the messages she’s received against the change have been “sexist” remarks from students who make light of the situation.
The campaign to change the uniform has also shed light on other policies that some students say are restrictive.
Bathroom policies at Morton schools
The Morton student handbook does not contain a policy for bathroom use but a 2018 letter obtained by Cicero Independiente through a Freedom of Information Act request, was sent to Morton West parents informing them of a new bathroom policy.
The letter, signed by the then principal Josh McMahon, reads, “In order for students to maximize their instructional time within the classroom, students will be escorted to their lockers and the bathrooms.”
The district superintendent did not respond to emailed questions about what prompted the 2018 change and did not return requests for an interview.
Four different students told Cicero Independiente that this policy leads to uncomfortable situations. Some choose to wait hours to relieve themselves instead of having to wait for an escort.
“At West, if you need to go to the bathroom, you tell the teacher, security comes and they take you to the bathroom,” explained Elaine Thach. “It's kind of annoying because sometimes there’s not enough security or they take a long time.”
“It’s awkward to have a male security guard waiting for you outside the bathroom,” explained Flores.
Students are encouraged to use bathrooms between passing periods but some students say the bathrooms are too crowded and they would rather not risk being late to class, which can eventually lead to a detention.
“Some teachers don't let anybody go [to the bathroom] during class because they have to call an escort...The expectation to change [your pad] and relieve yourself in the bathroom before class is unrealistic,” said Isis Godinez during the public comment sections of the September board meeting.
Karen Avelar, a student at Morton East, told Cicero Independiente that bathroom use policies at East are different. She said each teacher has a different bathroom use policy and while some are more lenient, others only let them use the bathroom twice a quarter. Thalia Carillo, another student at East, explained that some teachers ask that students wait ten minutes after class starts before asking to use the bathroom.
Vanessa Garcia, a parent who supports changing the uniform, also said that students do not have enough time to use the bathroom during passing periods. A Morton graduate, Garcia said, “I know that it is not possible to go to the bathroom in three minutes without being late, especially if you have to change [your pad].”
Similar policies are implemented in other school districts to maximize student class time and prevent students from engaging in unwanted behavior in the bathrooms. These policies, however, have come under scrutiny for the potential health consequences.
A year of student-led organizing efforts
The students pushing for a change in the dress code are not the only ones who are waiting for a response from the district.
Earlier this year, a group of freshmen students from the Morton Freshman Center in Cicero petitioned the board to adopt a sanctuary district policy to protect and support undocumented students. Sanctuary districts or schools are institutions that don’t involve themselves with immigration law and may ban questioning someone’s immigration status or country of birth, remove police from schools or set up special student counselors with knowledge to support undocumented students.
Other students have also requested that the district stop using the gang contracts, even launching an email campaign directed at principals and administrators, following an investigation published by Cicero Independiente in collaboration with other newsrooms.
While students acknowledge that administrators are willing to meet with them, sometimes weekly, none of their requests have been addressed directly by the board, leading some students to question whether administrators care to hear their voices. When asked whether he feels like school administrators care about student concerns, Jaurequi, a student representative on the board, said that “it’s sort of like a yes and a no.”
“We would want to see [a lot of change] implemented but I do know things take time,” he explained. Jaurequi meets with the school principals regularly to receive updates.
“I don't think the school administrators care what the students think,” shared Juan Lopez, a senior at East. “I feel like, if I were to tell them one of my opinions they would hear it out, say ‘alright’ and then never do anything about it.”
The district is scheduled to have another board meeting on Wednesday, October 13, 2021 at 5:30 p.m. at the district building at 5801 West Cermak Road in Cicero. None of the student campaigns were on the public agenda at the time of publication.
This story was reported with support from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.
Irene Romulo is a contributing reporter for Cicero Independiente. You can follow her on Twitter at ireneincicero or email her at irene@ciceroindependiente.com
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