NORTH HOLLYWOOD : Dad, Son Paint Drab Lavatories at Boy’s School

The one thing that teachers, students and parents could all agree on in a recent survey was the condition of student bathrooms--they’re gross.

But one student and his father decided not to stop with just complaining. Victor Soltero and his son, Victor Jr., 8, teamed up to take back the restrooms at Strathern Street Elementary in North Hollywood.

At the grand opening of the cleaned and repainted bathrooms Friday, celebrated with a school assembly program, the Solteros’ volunteer work was honored.

“We’re very proud of our new restrooms,” said Principal Floyd Cottam, who asked the students to join teachers in helping to keep the bathrooms clean and safe.

“They spent nearly three weeks painting our bathrooms, sometimes on weekends, sometimes until 10 at night, working very hard,” Cottam said of the Solteros.

When they were through, kindergarten teacher Pam Goskin added stenciled flowers, fish and toy soldiers to the walls.

The Solteros painted the bathrooms in bright colors--pink and purple for the girl’s rooms and navy and powder blue for the boy’s--instead of the institutional colors used by the school district.

When Victor Jr. was asked why his father, who could not attend the assembly, got involved in the bathroom revitalization project, the boy said simply, “Because he agreed that they were ugly.”

His schoolmates concurred.

“They used to be old and green and smelly,” said Nuritza Sarksyan, 10. “People wrote bad words on the walls, and there were paper towels everywhere.”

Ramella Aleksanyan, 10, said that the floors of the bathrooms were always wet. “And disgusting,” added Lucy Mkrtchyan, 10.

Cottam said that every time teachers and administrators pass by a bathroom from now on, they will go inside to make sure the restrooms are clean and free of vandalism.