If you walked into a restroom four years ago, you would not find the free menstrual products that are there today. The baskets full of pads and tampons that sit in the bathrooms were implemented in 2021.

While the addition of menstrual care products to bathrooms was a huge step forward, benefitting both students and staff, it has posed some issues for the janitorial staff.

The free menstrual products are the result of Article 8.39, a bylaw passed by the Brookline Board of Selectmen. Section Two of the bylaw states, “The Town of Brookline shall make available and accessible at no charge menstrual hygiene products (tampons and pads/napkins) in its public building restrooms that serve female-bodied members of the public.” The bylaw was passed by the town in 2019 and was later adopted by the School Committee.

Jim Mellett, a head custodian, said that after the article was passed, the responsibility fell on the custodians to supply and maintain the distribution of menstrual care products in bathrooms.

“It never used to be our responsibility. [Now] we are the ones that refill the baskets in the bathrooms that still have them,” Mellett said.

According to Mellett, the budget for the menstrual products, as well as toilet paper, soap and paper towels is taken directly out of the custodian’s budget.

“The money that they pay for [menstrual products] came out of our regular fund. So, we get less of other supplies because now we have to pay for those,” Mellett said.

Mellett said that product dispensers were previously installed in the STEM wing but were difficult to use and often broke.

“The problem with those machines [is] they are really cheap. They’re all plastic on the inside,” Mellett said. “They were jamming, and it takes 20 to 25 minutes to load each one.”

The custodians replaced the dispensers with baskets of products that are refilled daily. In most of the restrooms with counters, such as the ones in the STEM wing, this solution works, but in some of the single stall bathrooms, where there is less space, the products frequently fall on the ground.

“That’s why they’re not in every woman’s bathroom: because there are just sinks. We started out having them on the sink, but all they would do was end up on the floor. Then they’re just getting thrown out,” Mellett said.

Mellett said last year, there were numerous bathroom floods caused by intentional clogging and misuse of products in the toilets, mainly in the men’s room. This is a problem that has not happened yet this year, partially due to the measures taken by custodians to prevent it.

“Ever since we stopped putting [menstrual products] in the men’s room in the STEM, we really haven’t had any issues in the ladies’ room in the STEM,” Mellett said.

The struggle to locate free menstrual products has been a district-wide issue even after the legislation mandating them was passed. Junior Chora Bayer said that in 2021, during her time in middle school at Baker, she was prompted to start an initiative to get period products available in her school.

At the high school, Bayer said she has seen greater availability of products. She said the janitors have done a great job of restocking the products in bathrooms in the STEM wing and the 22 Tappan building. However, she has noticed that other areas of the building are occasionally missing products.

“On the newer side of the building, I always see they have a basket of pads and tampons, though on the older side of the building, they don’t always [have them],” Bayer said. “For people that might not have a pad or tampon at the moment, it might be hard to have to walk down to the nurse or go to another bathroom.”

According to nurse Megan Day, the clinic has a supply of products that is a frequently utilized resource by students and staff. The money for those products comes directly from the town health budget.

However, Day said she is aware that getting to the nurse’s office can be an inconvenient trip.

“If you only have a few minutes to pass and you’re on the other side of the building, I could see how that feels like a tight turnaround, but hopefully having the added supply in other restrooms would help that,” Day said.

Since this trip to the nurse’s office to get products was what originally started her initiative in middle school, Bayer said that she was excited to find products in many bathrooms when she came to the high school.

“The first thing me and my friends were saying when we first came to the high school was, we were so happy that they had pads and tampons [in the bathrooms],” Bayer said. “We didn’t have to do anything or go talk to the principal because they were already there.”