Lawmakers push for Tennessee schools to offer free feminine hygiene products

A bill moving through the statehouse would provide free feminine hygiene products to students at Tennessee schools. Supporters maintain that increased access to these products will improve students’ academic performance. 

Backers of the bill call it a step toward reducing period poverty, which occurs when people don’t have reliable access to menstrual products, health education and the resources needed to manage their periods.

Senate Bill 0857/House Bill 1219 requires the Tennessee Department of Health to create a pilot program that places vending machines with period products in select school restrooms and locker rooms at no cost to students. The eligible schools will be those with the highest percentages of economically disadvantaged students – kids that are homeless, in foster care or qualify for free or reduced lunch.

Sen. Raumesh Akbari and Rep. Karen Camper co-sponsored the bill.

“I brought this legislation because quite frankly I know the struggles that any young lady has when she is in school and unfortunately, has a naturally occurring biological event and is unprepared,” Akbari recently said on the Senate Floor. “They are put in a position where they have to make products.”

Lack of access means missing class

Lacking access can lead to students missing school, according Sydney Ramon, policy manager for the nonprofit Period Menstrual Movement.

“That can mean they’re just straight up going home because they don’t have products in their schools and they are then put in a position where they’re uncomfortable and they need to change or go back home,” she told WPLN News. “This could mean they are in the nurse’s office trying to get products as well.”

Others, Ramon said, go from classroom to classroom in search of products or spend time in the bathroom texting their friends for help – causing students to miss about 15 minutes of class or more.

Research shows that 1 in 4 students in the United States struggle to afford period products. Thirty-nine percent of teens report that this lack of access hinders their academic performance.

Hispanic and Black teens are most impacted by lack of access and affordability, according to Ramon who has worked with lawmakers on over 180 menstrual equity bills throughout the country.

She praised Tennessee for introducing this legislation which recognizes that access to feminine hygiene products should be among the support services that schools offer students.

“Soap, paper towels, toilet paper, these are all a part of their basic needs that allow them to feel safe and comfortable in a classroom,” Ramon said. “And so by providing this funded pilot program in select eligible schools in Tennessee, we are reducing those barriers for students and allowing them to perform better in the classroom.”

The legislation directs the Department of Health to work with other state and ocal departments, nonprofits, churches to supply the products in the vending machines. Donations will also be accepted.

The bill, which has bipartisan support, recently passed 27- 3 in the Senate and now moves to the House.