Free tampons and pads are now provided in school bathrooms for grades 3-12 after a new bill is passed
On Jan. 11, 2023, Act AB 230, also known as the Girl Scouts Period Equity Act, was extended from Act AB 367, the Menstrual Equity for All Act of 2021, proposed by Christina Garcia, former California State Representative. The bill passed with no opposition. Originally, the bill stated that only schools serving students grades 6-12 that fit under specific requirements would be required to provide pads and tampons free of charge. After witnessing the struggles due to a lack of access to menstrual hygiene, Girl Scouts Troop 76 proposed to extend this bill to provide access to all students from grades 3-12 to Majority Leader Eloise Gómez Reyes who introduced it to legislation and passed Mar. 22, 2023.
Troop 76 Girl Scout Ava Firnkoess, a prominent advocate for the bill said, “[The Girl Scouts Period Equity Act] is important to us because we started our periods at a young age…I have another friend who also started at a young age. She had to use toilet paper and paper towels because she did not have access to menstrual products. We think young students who start their periods need to have access to products, not just those who start in sixth grade or later.”
Starting July 1, 2024, Ventura High School and many other schools in California have implemented free menstrual products in all girls’ bathrooms and at least one boys’ bathroom. At VHS, menstrual product dispensers can be found in every girls’ and gender-neutral bathroom as well as some of the boys’ bathrooms.
Paola Jimenez ‘26 said, “I think it’s very good that the school offered [period products] because sometimes you forget them at home or you don’t have one so if you have an accident it’s good to have it there at school.”
Ireida Robles ‘27 said, “Honestly, it did [help] ‘cause like when I needed [menstrual products] I was at practice and I asked my friends if they had some and they didn’t so I went to the bathroom and then I saw that they were free.”
Having access to period hygiene at school has been observed to be beneficial. Those who run low on their supply or have irregular and unpredictable periods may find the tampon and pad dispensers helpful. However, the dispensers have run into issues since the school year has started.
“I’ve heard complaints that [dispensers have] been empty so I say [they] should restock more but when I was there luckily it was in the Main Street gym and people don’t really use that gym that much,” said Robles.
