Confused about my son's school bathroom policy, is it common?

Hi everyone,My son started middle school / 5th grade a few days ago, and I am already somewhat confused with this school's bathroom policy, but not sure if it is a common thing or not.I usually drop him at school in the morning when I am on my way driving to work, and starting Day 2 he would already get dressed and then go to the bathroom at home the very last moment before leaving when I am already starting the car. This has never happened before when he was in Grades 1-4, so I naturally got confused and had a conversation with him on our way to school - I started jokingly with "Hey, we are getting there 20 or more minutes before your classes start, don't you have time to go to the bathroom at school?""Nope", he said, "we are not allowed to..."At first I thought it was a joke or some kind of exaggeration on his side, because he claimed he cannot go to the bathroom during the recess at all. I am guilty of immediately thinking of this as a BS or some kind of misunderstanding initially, but I am sitting now and reading a "Middle School Handbook" on our school district's website, and I am confused even more:THREE (3) MINUTES PASSING TIME IS ALLOWED BETWEEN CLASSES. IN ORDER TO AVOID CONGESTION, A STUDENT IS NOT TO STOP AT THE WATER FOUNTAINS, LAVATORIES OR AT HIS/HER LOCKER.Then, in the same handbook about using bathrooms during classes:HALL PASSES Only one student at a time will be granted lavatory privilegesI also looked at a welcome letter sent by one of the teachers, and it pretty much explicitly says that bathroom use during her class is highly discouraged as students may miss instruction.So, now I am confused even more. It looks like what my son is saying is probably not an exaggeration. Kids are explicitly prohibited from using a bathroom during a recess/when passing between classes and highly discouraged from using bathrooms during classes.And here I am sitting in my office, trying to stay hydrated and using a bathroom probably 5 or more times during a day, making bathroom breaks even during some important long meetings (I mean, it's a necessary bodily function and it is kind of expected even at some CEO-level meetings that once an hour or so people might want/need to go to the bathroom), and it looks like my son doesn't even have this privilege at school?!The main reason I'm asking it here is that I grew up and went to school and college in the other country and moved to the US already as an adult, so I never had real-life exposure to US school system. I can't recall any bathroom issues during my school or college time whatsoever - I mean, it was obviously discouraged to use bathrooms excessively during classes, but nobody ever restricted bathroom use during a recess.That said - is my confusion completely baseless... and, the main question, when should middle school kids then go to the bathroom and stay within these rules??! So far I don't really understand why this is all of a sudden an issue in this school?Thanks! via /r/Parenting https://ift.tt/2HvJBzY