Principal Installs Free Laundromat At School After Students Were Bullied For Wearing Dirty Clothes

August 22, 2018

A high school principal noticed students were being bullied for their dirty clothes, and as a result, their attendance was dropping.

So when school starts September 4, there will be a new facility in the building: a free laundromat.

high school installs laundry room for students being bullied
Akbar Cook / Facebook

West Side High School Principal Akbar Cook said many students faced humiliation because they didn't have anything clean to wear. Students would mock others who showed up with stains on their shirt or dirty pants, taking pictures to continue the harassment on social media.

"They were choosing to stay home rather than coming to school to be bullied or ridiculed," Cook told The Star-Ledger. "We didn’t know until we started making calls."

Cook managed to secure $20,000 in funding from the PSEG Foundation and with that money he converted the football locker room into a laundry room, complete with five washing machines and five dryers.

When news of Cook's addition to the school hit social media, the community started to donate laundry detergent and dryer sheets through the school's Amazon wishlist so students can do their laundry completely free of cost.

The laundry room will be open to students every day after school between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m.