A Vancouver, Wash., teacher who was accused of denying two of her third-grade students a trip to the bathroom because they didn’t have enough play money to pay — a denial that led them to wet their pants in class — will not be punished as a result of one of the investigations.
The teacher’s union has rallied behind the teacher, and a separate investigation has concluded that the children were not actually denied permission to use the restroom, The Daily Caller reported.
Another investigation that sparked from complaints from one of the angry moms is still pending.
The teacher, whose name was not released, apparently put in place a payment system in the Mill Plain Elementary School classroom to teach children the value of money. The fake cash could be used to buy toys or snacks. The teacher also began charging $50 for students to use the bathroom, as a means of cutting down of classroom disruptions, The Daily Caller reported.
But the bathroom fee was supposedly waived during emergency situations, Evergreen Public Schools said in a statement. Local teachers union president Gloria Smith said no child was ever denied the opportunity to use the restroom, The Daily Caller reported.
Yet at least two students felt they couldn’t go, because they didn’t have the full $50 in fake money.
The parents of the girls were outraged, with one saying that her daughter — a size 10 — was given a choice to change into size 7 spandex pants or boy’s shorts, and that she was teased for the remainder of the day, The Daily Caller reported.
Another investigation is still in the works, based on complaints filed by mother Jasmine Al-Ayadhi.
“When it comes to a bathroom issue, when a child has to pay money to use the bathroom, that’s wrong,” she told ABC affiliate KATU last week. “It’s inhumane.”
Ms. Al-Ayadhi also added that she’s likely going to home-school her daughter now.
She said, to The Columbian: “How can you return a child to a school where she’s being humiliated and degraded?”
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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