According to CPS, the district began providing free period products to students in 2019, when the Learn with Dignity Act<\/a> first went into effect. CPS\u2019 policy states<\/a> that all schools serving grades 3-12 must make menstrual hygiene products available, at no cost to students, in bathrooms of every school building. The way that this has been implemented looks different in schools across the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What is menstrual equity?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Earlier this year, IL Latino News<\/a> looked into the laws that support menstrual equity in Illinois.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Menstrual equity, or period equity, as first defined by Jennifer Weiss-Wolf, co-founder of\u00a0Period Equity<\/a>, refers to the affordability, accessibility and safety of menstrual products<\/a> for all people, including laws and policies that acknowledge and consider menstruation. Weiss-Wolf first coined the term in a 2015 Cosmopolitan article<\/a> about ending the tampon tax<\/a>, which many consider to have catapulted the menstrual equity movement forward. The term has since expanded, with many organizations now including education about menstruation<\/a> and reproductive care in the definition.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to Obstetrics & Gynecology<\/a>, 64% of women reported having difficulty affording pads or tampons. Laws like the Learn with Dignity Act work to ensure menstrual equity by providing access to these essential health products, which many cannot afford.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is especially important in districts like CPS where 73% of students<\/a> come from low-income households, and 82% of students are Hispanic or African American<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rep. Barbara Hernandez, who\u2019s sponsored several bills<\/a> expanding access to free products, says that many people have a misconception of who period poverty impacts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey never really think about it happening right here in your hometown, in your country. It\u2019s very important to just take a step back and actually see that it is happening in our community and it\u2019s happening in our low income households,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Products outside of restrooms create additional barriers<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n According to staff members in some schools, products are not always as easily accessible as the policy implies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At Corkery Elementary School, counselor Giovanna Cruz keeps products stocked in her classroom, something she started doing after conversations with students made her realize the inconvenience they faced if they forgot a pad or tampon at home \u2013 or if their families couldn\u2019t afford products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey felt really uncomfortable,\u201d Cruz explained. \u201cWe do have them, but they’re just in the office.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n The main office of Corkery sits on the ground floor, where there are no classrooms. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Fifth and sixth grade classrooms at the school are on the top floor, which leaves menstruating students who need a product traveling down three floors, walking over to the office, then back up to the top, stopping in a restroom along the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou can’t just say \u2018I need to go to the bathroom,\u2019 because the teachers know how long it takes you to go to the bathroom. So you have to be specific and then you know, you have to raise your hand and be like, \u2018can I go to the office to get [a pad]. It\u2019s just\u2026\u201d Cruz said, her voice trailing off as she shook her head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At Lane Tech, Villasenor says that products kept in the restrooms aren\u2019t consistently restocked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe can always find the napkins, but rarely ever the tampons in the main bathrooms,\u201d she said, leaving students who need a period product to check in the next nearest bathroom, or walk to the main office. This feat isn\u2019t easy on Lane Tech\u2019s massive campus. It is the largest school in the city<\/a>, consisting of 607,000 square feet \u2013 which students have 5 minutes to navigate<\/a> during passing periods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Damaris Pereda, the National Programs Director of PERIOD. says that keeping products stored in the main office or a nurse\u2019s office creates additional barriers and more time that students are not in class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey have to go to the restroom first to visually realize that they might need [a product], then they need to go to another office,\u201d said Pereda. \u201cAll of that is time that they are not in school or school activity, which is impacting their academic outcome.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Students miss school when they don\u2019t have products<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI did have a student, a sixth grade student who would refuse to come to school during her period,\u201d said Cruz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This isn\u2019t uncommon. The 2021 \u201cState of the Period\u201d national survey<\/a> found that 4 in 5 teens have either missed class time or know a classmate who missed class time because they did not have access to period products. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Periods typically last three to seven days<\/a>, which means a student missing school due to not having hygiene products is missing a significant amount of learning time. A student who misses 10% of days in a school year \u2013whether excused or not\u2013 is considered chronically absent. In CPS, this is 18 school days<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Studies show that chronic absenteeism has negative impacts on both grades<\/a> and standardized test scores<\/a>, which is especially concerning given that students are already academically behind<\/a> due to the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sparking conversations about accessibility <\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n Cruz says her students have expressed shame and embarrassment around having to ask for pads in the office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI feel for them,\u201d said Cruz, who purchases the products she provides to students out-of-pocket. \u201cIt’s easier to be like, \u2018can I go to the counselor’s office?\u2019 Instead of saying \u2018can I go to the main office?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She says that the same students tend to cycle back to her office every month looking for pads, which she doesn\u2019t mind providing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt really just got me thinking of what are other ways that we can supply them in the school? What other conversations can we have?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n _________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/illatinonews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/1813A29C-EC1E-486F-883E-6A5C3710F151.jpg\")
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