Boston Public Schools To Stock Tampons, Pads For Students

BOSTON — Boston Public School officials announced Monday they will be testing a program to bring free menstrual supplies to Boston Public schools throughout the district this fall. The $100,000 investment for the pilot program was part of the mayor's FY20 budget, city officials announced Monday. The move comes some three years after Cambridge and Somerville Public Schools both started similar programs.

"This pilot program is about equity in our schools, and among our young people," said Mayor Marty Walsh in a statement. "Nearly one in five girls in the U.S. have left school early, or missed school all together because they didn't have access to menstrual products. I'm proud BPS continues to be a leader in equity, ensuring our students have the resources they need, and access to the same opportunities."

The pilot will include all 77 schools that teach students in grades 6 to 12. Unlike in Cambridge and Somerville, where the supplies are situated in the bathrooms for anyone to take as needed, Boston School Health Services will order the menstrual products and distribute them to the school nurses' offices. Then, nurses will partner with selected teachers who will also give out menstrual supplies.

In Somerville the question came up about whether keeping the menstrual products in the actual bathrooms as opposed to in the nurses's office might lead to some students taking more than their fair share. The school committee brushed that aside at the time.

"Frankly, the School Committee ... decided we didn't care. If a student needs to stock up, they need to stock up. The possibility that someone may 'waste' a product pales compared to the certainty that we have students who need this," School Committee member Andre Green told Patch.

And, so far this has been a nonissue for the district, said Lee Erica Palmer who also helped lead the charge in Somerville.

"Turns out students take what they need, and that's the point!," Palmer said.

In the past three years pads and tampons have been available in free vending machines in the Somerville school bathrooms.

"It has not been a budget buster any more than soap, or bandaid, or any other provided health or wellness product," said Green.

In March, neighboring Brookline became the first municipality in the country to require all town-owned bathrooms supply free pads and tampons. Proponents argued that menstrual supplies are just as necessary as toilet paper and should be included in restrooms. Although students from Brookline High School were the ones who sparked the idea, the new bylaw does not apply to public school restrooms. The Brookline School Committee would need to approve something similar.

Scotland became the first country to mandate free menstrual hygiene products in schools. California has mandated the same for some schools. New York offers feminine hygiene products in prisons and schools. Illinois provides them to schools. And in 2016, Cambridge and Somerville Public Schools both started programs providing free menstrual products in school bathrooms.

There are bills in the Massachusetts Senate and House that would make tampons and sanitary pads available in public schools from grades 6 to 12, homeless shelters and prisons across the Commonwealth.

Food stamps do not cover tampons or pads; the program puts them in the same category as cigarettes and alcohol. In 36 states menstrual products are taxed as a luxury item, though not in Massachusetts.

Walsh's newly resubmitted budget also increased the school appropriation by an additional $38.7 million to a total of $1.2 billion after the collective bargaining agreement was settled between the Boston Teachers Union and the Boston Public Schools.

The FY20 BPS budget will grow by $51 million or 4.5 percent. The FY20 school budget reflects an increase in per-pupil spending by 25 percent over the past six years, from about $16,500 in FY14 to over $20,700 in FY20, according to the mayor's office.

"I'm grateful to Mayor Walsh for funding this important program, and making sure that girls in BPS don't have to choose between taking care of their health, and going to class," said Laura Perille, interim superintendent of schools in a statement. "Offering free, easily accessible menstrual supplies means that more students will have access to the supplies they need, and are able to stay in class and focus on their education."

Patch reporter Jenna Fisher can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna).