“passports.”

Parents with daughters said the idea of such passports is particularly problematic because of female hygiene needs and relatively limited time between classes. Parents said students have four minutes between classes to go to their lockers, switch books, and head to their next class, which can sometimes be at opposite ends of the building at the high school level.

“When nature calls, it calls,” said Samantha Tubekis, mother of a student at Haines Middle School. “No air conditioning at Haines, so they want them to drink a lot of water. Well, guess what happens then? I get tired of good kids, who aren’t abusing privileges, being penalized because of a few bad kids who take advantage.”

District spokesman Jim Blaney said there is no districtwide policy governing bathroom breaks. There are no written policies at the individual schools, either. Instead, some teams of teachers adopted the bathroom passports to enforce the importance of time management.

“This is a situation that is up to the individual teacher,” Blaney said. “What they are trying to do is let the kids know you can’t just leave the classroom whenever you want. We’re trying to get the students to think about how much they really need to leave class and how to start using their time wisely. If you have to use the restroom, you may have to skip socializing with your friends between classes. Part of the transition to middle school and high school is learning that.”

Blaney said teachers know, and are expected to know, about any medical conditions or situations individual students may have that would require more frequent trips to the bathroom or other classroom absences.

“This is where the human aspect of teaching comes in,” he said. “Keeping students from using the bathroom when they have a legitimate need? We don’t do that.”