Blue Valley is thought to be a great school – ranked as the 3rd best public high school in Kansas and 5th in best public school teachers. We have some of the best test scores and athletics in the Kansas City area, so why don’t we have working toilets?
Within the state of Kansas, in a public facility, like BV is, you have to have reasonable access to restroom facilities; this was added to Kansas Administrative Regulations in 2003: “Each operator shall ensure that each building shall have a minimum of one working flush toilet and one working hand sink for each 30 children or youth in the license capacity.” This regulation is why, when the BV plumbing breaks, school or events on campus have to be cancelled –– you can’t have a school with no restrooms.
Most recently, this happened at Back-To-School night. A text was sent out to families: “Our building had developed a plumbing problem. We believe it will be resolved tomorrow.”
This however is not a new development or change, as a senior here at BV all four years I have been here we have had plumbing problems. Sometimes, just part of the system goes down and we can only use bathrooms in the ‘new addition’ area (500s, 200s), meaning students were walking forever to get to use the restrooms, taking away from class time. My personal problem with the BV plumbing system is not that it breaks, but how low it seems to be on the administration’s list of problems.
Recently for the 2025-2026 school year, BV got a jumbotron –– which let me be clear is fantastic and very exciting –– however, our school can function without a jumbotron. It can’t without bathrooms.
Over my four years at BV there seems to be a pattern of doing ‘quick fixes’ and slapping bandaids on our plumbing problem while spending lots of time and money on new fancy items or renovations. Fixing plumbing isn’t a glorious task or accomplishment, students will not be as excited about it as they are a jumbotron or fancy new tv screens; however, it’s a necessity for the school. Not only legally, but also just in general. It’s nice to not have to walk past 10 bathrooms to get to a functioning one.
So no, fixing the plumbing will not get a pep rally student body cheering or excited, however what we do with and for the school should not be determined on what gets students hyped and excited –– it should be what BV needs to function first, then we can add jumbotrons and new baseball fields.
Stats from NICHE
Quote from BVSD Text Updates
Quote from Kansas Administrative Regulations, Department of Health and Environment: Article 4 — Maternal and Child Health
