Open Forum

Bit of an odd situation i have going on regarding our dressing rooms backstage. So i am revamping the theatre department at a high school. We are getting ready to do a play and i recently found out that both dressing rooms and the green room are being used as athletic offices. When i mentioned this to admin all they really said was "oh well, i guess we don't have dressing rooms". Is this allowed? There is nowhere for them to go backstage now. The only bathrooms are in the dressing rooms, so they will have nowhere to change / get ready / wait backstage. I was wondering if there was any sort of statue that states that students need to be given access to the dressing rooms.

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Jordyn Declemente
John I. Leonard Community High School
FL
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I feel your pain. When I helped to design our high school 24 ish years ago I made sure there were two restrooms with lockers and showers in the hallway behind the stage. they were designed and used as theatre bathrooms for years... they were used for our costume storage and for changing rooms. one day several years ago the school nurse came to me and said they were needed for special needs students who needed to be changed and showered.... could we co exist being me I said sure. It worked for a short bit..  then we had to move our stuff out .  then they took out the lockers to move in changing beds and other equipment. it became too much of a hassle to use them because my students got blamed if anything was out of place. They are no longer used by us at all. We have a fine arts hallway off of the backstage door which leads to the band and chorus room. We use the chorus room to change in .. there are several sound proof rooms which can be used for changing and there is a bathroom in the hallway!  it is not ideal but it is what we have . I doubt you will get your dressing rooms back ... you will have to be creative. Basically people do not think about theatre kids changing.... just athlete's !!!!   Good luck   Cathy.... who has been there 

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Cathy Archer
EdTA Member or Troupe Director
Rutland High School
VT
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Legal "right" no, moral and ethical imperative - very much so. And you need at least 4 spaces: girls, boys and two gender neutral ones.

Ideally there are areas that are basically identical to the changing room you find in a department store so individuals can step into them and latch the door so no one can barge in on them while they are dressng.

Yes, I know gang showers may be the "thing" for the sports teams, but times have changed and privacy needs to be available for all. No student (or adult) should ever be told they have to strip in front of anyone else. 

 Students should NOT be changing in bathrooms as that's not sanitary. 

I encourage HS costumers to include "skin parts" such as camisoles, bike shorts, boxer-briefs and full-coverage bras as the foundational layer for their costumes as those typically cover more than swimming attire would and the students may feel comfortable changing with those base layers remaning in place, but privacy is key. 

An admin who says otherwise will soon be a sexual harassment lawsuit defendant. 

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Kristi Ross-Clausen
Safety Maven/Consultant
IATSE 470/Actors Equity Member
Alliance for Wisconsin Theatre Education
Association for Quality in AV Board
AVIXA/USITT
Teacher, Author, Speaker
www.theaterhealthandsafety.com
Appleton, WI
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