The Bathroom Doors At Moline High School Are Vanishing: Here’s Why

If you’ve scrolled Facebook lately and thought, “Wait… are the bathroom doors at Moline High School just gone?” — you’re not imagining things. Photos of the now-exposed entrances have been circulating, and yes, those bathroom doors really are taking a little vacation… and not a glamorous one.

Door Drama at Moline High

According to the Moline-Coal Valley School District, the doors have been “on and off” for the past few years. Why? One very modern reason: vaping. “Staff can better hear and detect vaping from the hallway when the doors are removed,” the district explained. Because apparently, in 2025, we’re just trying to keep kids from turning the bathrooms into personal fog machines.

Privacy Questions Raise Eyebrows

Parents and students online have asked the big question: “Uh, what about privacy? ”The district assured that in most bathrooms, “the stalls cannot be seen from the doorway.” In the few where they can, temporary dividers are being installed until a large renovation kicks off this summer. The remodel is expected to take about two years, so those doors won’t be making a dramatic return anytime soon.

What About Safety?

For emergencies, the district says bathrooms don’t have interior locks or items students could use to barricade themselves anyway. In a crisis, staff are instructed to move anyone in the halls or bathrooms into the nearest classrooms.

The Bigger Problem: Vaping Everywhere

The district says vaping isn’t just a Moline issue, calling it a “public health crisis and a youth epidemic.” They added that School Resource Officers can no longer write tickets for vaping under Illinois law, and it “rarely qualifies as an exclusionary offense, as well.”

For now, the district says only the high school is losing bathroom doors, and they welcome community ideas. gett

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