What is your occupation here at Austin High?
My job title at this time is Licensed Mental Health Professional. What I actually do is kind of a social work job. In a nutshell, my role is to connect students and families with resources. If a student is struggling with attendance, academics, or behavior and not being successful at school, what I can do is figure out what is going on and what resources may be available to them to help them do better.
Are there funds allocated specifically for providing feminine hygiene products in schools?
I don’t think the school district has a fund for that. The nurse might have had a fund through Seton- our nurses are contracted through Seton. I know for sure we don’t have one in AISD.
Have you had any encounters with students having difficulties accessing feminine hygiene products?
I hadn’t until recently. There have been a couple of cases, because previously the nurse was providing that, so it wasn’t really something that fell to me.
How did you deal with those cases?
There wasn’t a whole lot going on. It wasn’t a huge issue, so I brought some supplies from home.
If we gained access to feminine hygiene products, where could we put them or how do you think we should make them available in the school?
What I would recommend is first, talking to the nurse about how big of a need it is, because you don’t want to just get a few or have a warehouse-full and you don’t need them, so get an idea of the level of need up until this point, and then maybe ask her if she still has a place where those items can be stored. Like, if you provided them, could she still provide the service? And if not, then I certainly can have a place for them to be and provide that service. I’m happy to do that. So the big questions for her then would be what level of need does she think there is and how much should we have on hand at any given time, and then I’m happy to take it from there.
Is there a homeless population within Austin High that would need access to feminine hygiene products?
The challenge is, I definitely know there are students at Austin High that are dealing with being homeless that are not telling anybody. They’re not identified as such, because of the shame and the self-esteem issues that are involved in that, unfortunately. But on any given year, I would say of the ones that I am aware of, there are probably 10 to 20 students. Their needs are really various. We have a clothes closet upstairs that gets used a little bit, but because human beings are so different, it’s hard to have a wide enough range of clothes to be useful. That’s kind of a challenge. The most helpful things would be things like gift cards for shoes, gift cards to HEB-- things like that.
What message do you think schools providing feminine hygiene products sends to girls and the general community?
I think it sends the message of ‘this is something that’s normal and we’re here to help if you need us.’ Sometimes people need to have a pad and they don’t have one--they forgot or they didn’t realize, they weren’t looking at their calendar, whatever. It’s a normal thing that people need sometimes and it’s nice to be able to turn somewhere when you need help.
My job title at this time is Licensed Mental Health Professional. What I actually do is kind of a social work job. In a nutshell, my role is to connect students and families with resources. If a student is struggling with attendance, academics, or behavior and not being successful at school, what I can do is figure out what is going on and what resources may be available to them to help them do better.
Are there funds allocated specifically for providing feminine hygiene products in schools?
I don’t think the school district has a fund for that. The nurse might have had a fund through Seton- our nurses are contracted through Seton. I know for sure we don’t have one in AISD.
Have you had any encounters with students having difficulties accessing feminine hygiene products?
I hadn’t until recently. There have been a couple of cases, because previously the nurse was providing that, so it wasn’t really something that fell to me.
How did you deal with those cases?
There wasn’t a whole lot going on. It wasn’t a huge issue, so I brought some supplies from home.
If we gained access to feminine hygiene products, where could we put them or how do you think we should make them available in the school?
What I would recommend is first, talking to the nurse about how big of a need it is, because you don’t want to just get a few or have a warehouse-full and you don’t need them, so get an idea of the level of need up until this point, and then maybe ask her if she still has a place where those items can be stored. Like, if you provided them, could she still provide the service? And if not, then I certainly can have a place for them to be and provide that service. I’m happy to do that. So the big questions for her then would be what level of need does she think there is and how much should we have on hand at any given time, and then I’m happy to take it from there.
Is there a homeless population within Austin High that would need access to feminine hygiene products?
The challenge is, I definitely know there are students at Austin High that are dealing with being homeless that are not telling anybody. They’re not identified as such, because of the shame and the self-esteem issues that are involved in that, unfortunately. But on any given year, I would say of the ones that I am aware of, there are probably 10 to 20 students. Their needs are really various. We have a clothes closet upstairs that gets used a little bit, but because human beings are so different, it’s hard to have a wide enough range of clothes to be useful. That’s kind of a challenge. The most helpful things would be things like gift cards for shoes, gift cards to HEB-- things like that.
What message do you think schools providing feminine hygiene products sends to girls and the general community?
I think it sends the message of ‘this is something that’s normal and we’re here to help if you need us.’ Sometimes people need to have a pad and they don’t have one--they forgot or they didn’t realize, they weren’t looking at their calendar, whatever. It’s a normal thing that people need sometimes and it’s nice to be able to turn somewhere when you need help.