California schools get bathrooms-in-a-box for emergencies

They are now fixtures in every classroom in Turlock, California. Teachers returned from winter break to find a bathroom-in-a-box on their desk, complete with toilet paper and all the accessories, marked For Lockdown Only.

Staff members assembled the kits to use during long-term lockdowns like the four hours Patterson High School students spent in their classrooms last fall when fights broke out on campus.

Shielded by their classmates, Patterson teens used trash cans as toilets until police allowed students and teachers outside.

The incident spurred school superintendents across Stanislaus county, to discuss ways to make sure history did not repeat itself.

Hence, in Turlock, the emergency toilets. Maintenance workers put together 701 of them over the winter break, enough to supply every classroom in the district that needed one. They cost $20 (£13) each, or about $14,000 total - the equivalent of nearly 200 high school textbooks.

"It's a small price to pay for personal dignity," said Patricia McGuire, a district assistant superintendent.