Along with Aliamanu Middle, Kailua Intermediate and Kaimuki High, Waiau has been selected by the Department of Education for a pilot restroom renovation and deep-cleaning project that will give the schools one clean, well-equipped bathroom for each gender. The changes include new toilets, urinals, sinks and mirrors, as well as doors with locks and stall separators that ensure privacy.

"We hope the kids get the message that they deserve a good restroom, a nice clean restroom," said Geri Ichimura, the DOE's project director.

As money permits, the DOE will finish renovating all the restrooms in these four schools before expanding to the Neighbor Islands and other O'ahu schools. Ichimura did not know how much has been spent so far, but the state Legislature approved an additional $1 million this year for restroom supplies, and better restrooms are part of the DOE's broader repair and maintenance and classroom renovation plans.

After the DOE finishes the work, the schools will assume responsibility for making sure the restrooms are kept clean. Officials are counting on a combination of staff vigilance and students' sense of school pride and ownership to help bring an end to this problem that has plagued schools for years.

Kailua Intermediate's student body president Marke Dionisio hopes that will work. While students don't respect the restrooms now, he's banking on the honor of being one of four schools in the program to inspire pride in the facilities.

"I'm hoping that it will stay clean for the rest of the year," he said.

While schools generally keep existing facilities clean enough to pass sanitation tests, students complain that the schools are slow to replenish supplies or clean the floors. However, they tend to agree with school officials that their fellow students often create the mess.

Cleaning crews were hard at work at Aliamanu Middle last week replacing mirrors, doors and soap, toilet paper and paper towel dispensers, some of which had been torn from the walls. They also had to replace stolen stall latches and a splintered doorway.

Cleaning included scraping pencil marks from the grout, scrubbing away dried paper stuck to the ceiling and washing away the red dirt ground into the floors.

Custodian Robert McFarland said Aliamanu's restrooms aren't as bad as others he has seen, but if students feel like being destructive, "They can trash one of these (restrooms) in 10 seconds."

For example, in a restroom that wasn't being renovated, a puddle of pink soap lay on the floor under the dispenser, with paper towels strewn on the floor and wadded up in the sink and urinal.

To maintain the renovated restrooms, McFarland said he will have a custodian check on them four or five times a day between classes.

While the bulk of the maintenance will fall to the custodial staff, some of the responsibility will fall to students, too.

The school will have a poster contest and discussions to inspire respect for the school and facilities.

At Kailua Intermediate, student council members' sneak peek at the restroom work on Friday gave them a glimpse of what they were hoping for — stalls that are high enough to ensure privacy. The old stall separators were less than five feet tall, making it easy to see over the top.

Student council vice president Cameron Kubota, 13, said the lack of privacy was the biggest problem with the school bathrooms, since students tend to keep the restrooms fairly clean. The real grime comes from wear and tear, he said. "The floors and walls seem kind of dirty," he said.

Kailua also will have a poster contest, and vice principal Sue Stock said some classes have expressed interest in painting murals in the restrooms to deter graffiti.

Officials at all the schools say instilling a sense of pride in the school will be one of the keys to maintaining the restrooms.

Kaimuki High School principal Dennis Manalili hopes changing the school's culture to one of respect and pride will help improve the restrooms.

Kaimuki students have spoken publicly about their displeasure with the restrooms, criticizing the smell; the lack of toilet paper, soap and paper towels; and the lack of respect students show for the facilities.

Manalili hopes starting with fresh restrooms will inspire the school to keep them that way.

"If a facility is clean, people will tend to keep it clean, and if it's all messed up, people will tend to not care," he said. "It just becomes a matter of learning to care."