Representative Kelly Skidmore (D-Boca Raton) sponsored CS/HB389, which allows school districts to make menstrual hygiene products available to girls in schools, at no cost. Available products may be located in the school nurses’ office, other school facilities for health services, and in restrooms within each school, including wheelchair accessible restrooms.
“One in four girls have missed school because they did not have access to menstrual products,” saysRepresentative Skidmore “Girls pay an academic price when these products aren’t free – and providing them will go a long way toward ensuring equal education opportunities for all. Florida’s students should not miss class because of a biological function. We provide necessary toilet paper and paper towels to all students, there is no reason why we shouldn’t provide menstrual hygiene products as well.”
Florida has the 4th largest school system in the country with a total student population close to 3,000,000 students, meaning that approximately 1.5 million students are potentially affected by lack of access to period products. This is exacerbated by the fact that 23% of Florida’s students are living below the poverty line and 50% qualify for free or reduced lunch.
The bill also encourages that school districts partner with nonprofit organizations, nongovernmental organizations, businesses, and other entities to assist in supplying and maintaining menstrual hygiene products.
“Together we can work to end the period poverty crisis facing too many of Florida’s students,” says Takeata King Pang of the Women’s Foundation of Florida, a South Florida-based nonprofit invested in the education of girls. “Basic hygiene should never be considered a luxury in the United States of America.”
