The Greater Essex County District School Board has passed a motion to supply feminine hygiene products, for free, in all female school washrooms by June 2022.
The effort was spearheaded by Anumita Jain, a Grade 12 student from Vincent Massey High School.
Jain says months of hard work has finally paid off.
"It makes me feel really empowered. I feel like it's the true recognition of student voice from the board. Seeing student voice be at the forefront of this whole entire movement and to see it get support from parents, to see the trustees support it, it really means a lot," she says.
Jain says her research found students were dealing with their problems in less ideal ways.
"The student consultation found that a lot of students were either using toilet paper, leaving in used products for way longer than they're supposed to which exposes them to risk of infection, asking friends, being driven home or they would ask the office," she says. "None of these situations are really favourable I would say."
Jain says it's one thing to make the products available, but making them free is the only way to ensure everyone has access.
"Period products for girls are just as essential of a hygiene needs as soap and toilet paper are for everyone else," she says. "These products exist for the students who might not be able to afford these products and are suffering from period poverty, but they also exist to serve those students who get caught in a situation where they don't have anything on them."
Jain and members of the board's student senate conducted a student survey gathering more than 1,000 responses with the majority in favour of the initiative.