Providence Schools Provide Students With Free Menstrual Products

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Menstrual products are now available to Providence public school students free of cost, thanks to a new initiative launched last week. The pilot program launch was announced Thursday by Mayor Jorge Elorza, along with Superintendent Christopher N. Maher and other officials.

"No student should have to limit their education or miss school activities because they are menstruating," Elorza said. "Periods are a part of life. When students are forced to disrupt their regular activity, they miss opportunities, it affects their self-esteem, and it reinforces stigma. Let’s work to ensure that all students in our school system are empowered, fully engaged, and focused on achieving in the classroom by meeting their basic needs."

Dispensers with menstrual hygiene products were placed in designated restrooms in Hope High School, Classical High School, Delsesto Middle School and Greene Middle School for the launch of the pilot program. Elorza first introduced the initiative in his budget address for the 2019 fiscal year, which is planned to expand to all middle and high schools across the city.

In an effort to exerpiment with different options, timed dispensers were placed in all female restrooms as well as the gender-neutral restroom in Hope High School and Delsesto Middle School. At Classical High School and Greene Middle School, dispensers were placed in one designated female restroom and one gender-neutral restroom.

“A year after meeting with local educator Diandra Kalish, Kavelle Christie of Planned Parenthood and the Elorza administration, I am excited to see that our advocacy for menstrual equity has helped inspire the launch of the menstrual hygiene product pilot program,” said Councilwoman Nirva LaFortune. “Our students deserve equal access to quality menstrual products without stigma because having a period is not a taboo: it is a component of our youth’s reproductive health.”

In 2018, surveys were issued by the Healthy Communities Office and Planned Parenthood of Southern New England to middle and high school students in Providence in an effort to gauge their needs. Many students responded that menstrual hygiene products were too expensive or inaccessible. In addition, a large number of students said that they had to purchase the products themselves, through a family member, or obtain them through the school nurse's office.

The survey also showed that menstruation and the lack of necessary hygiene products caused students to miss or be late to school activities, both physical and social, which lines up with national trends.

“Young people should not have to worry about how to buy or access menstrual hygiene products, especially while in school,” said Kafi Rouse, vice president of public relations and marketing at Planned Parenthood of Southern New England. “We believe that menstrual hygiene products should be readily available to all young people. Tampons and pads are not luxury items. They are a necessary component of feminine hygiene and should be available to all people.”