Some parents are voicing frustration as school districts in North San Diego County install tampon machines in elementary school boys’ bathrooms to comply with a relatively new state law.
The installations began at the start of the 2024-25 school year and are ongoing to this day, prompting some parents to argue it’s a waste of taxpayer dollars, inappropriate, and a recipe for disaster.
“It’s absolutely ludicrous,” said Marci Strange, chairwoman of the North San Diego County-based Taxpayers Oversight for Parents and Students, or TOPS.
Strange told The College Fix she heard from at least one mom that some boys got the tampons wet to see how many they could stick to the ceiling, adding she wouldn’t be surprised if they’re “clogging up the toilets with them, too.”
Britt Mayer, a conservative activist based in Southern California, posted in mid-February on her popular Rooted Wings social media accounts a leaked internal Vista Unified School District memo about the tampon machines.
“Boys don’t bleed, and if they do, they need a Band-Aid, not a tampon,” Mayer wrote. “This is mental warfare aimed at your kids, subsidized by your tax dollars.”
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The internal Vista memo had stated the Menstrual Equity For All Act of 2021 required all public schools in California to supply free pads or tampons in middle and high school restrooms, but a 2023 amendment to the law added elementary schools too, including in at least one boys’ bathroom per campus.
Shawn Loescher, assistant superintendent of the Vista school district, told The College Fix the district installed the elementary school machines in one boys’ bathroom on each campus over the last several months and is now in full compliance with the law.
He said the cost of the machines, including installation, is about $400 per unit.
Representatives of public school districts in Carlsbad and San Marcos, which flank Vista on each side, told The College Fix they are installing the tampon machines, with San Marcos’ efforts underway and Carlsbad’s installations complete.
The law states that the amendment aims to address a “population of pupils that may start their periods early.”
“When pupils do not have access to menstrual products, they may miss school or are less engaged in the classroom, which can have a long-lasting impact on their learning,” it states.
“Ensuring young pupils have access to menstrual products is crucial to their educational development and success.”
When the law and its amendment passed, it generated headlines mocking the state of California and widescale ridicule among many right-leaning observers. But the recent installations have prompted a new round of criticism.
“How is this real,” asked one observer on social media after another February memo about the tampon machines, this time from the Long Beach Unified School District, was widely distributed.
Menstrual products will be installed in boys bathrooms down to as low as 3rd grade in Long Beach Unified School District due to California state law. https://t.co/7erMkqwAnw
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) February 21, 2025
One Vista parent told The College Fix many parents think it’s a waste.
“One mom said that there isn’t currently a transgender student at the school who would need to use the tampons. [Another] said that if a student needed a tampon then the nurse’s office should be able to provide that,” said the parent, who asked to remain anonymous.
MORE: GMU backtracks, says female students can criticize tampons in men’s bathrooms
IMAGE CAPTION AND CREDIT: Monte Vista Elementary and its boys bathroom; Pictures by The College Fix
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