A school teacher is allegedly ‘no longer employed’ at the elementary school where she worked after prohibiting her first graders from using the bathroom – a punishment that caused multiple students to urinate on themselves.
According to a Facebook post written by one of the parents, the teacher had sent a message to her students’ families on Wednesday, explaining that her class had ‘lost bathroom privileges after losing the restroom badge in the hallway’.
In the message, which was screenshot and shared with the Facebook post, the teacher also wrote that several students ‘ended up peeing on themselves’ as a result of not being able to go to the bathroom.
The teacher, which worked at Bartlett Elementary School, also added that she had a talk with the students about proper use of things and urged parents to talk to their children about understanding the rules. She also apologized ‘for [the students] who had an accident’ and assured parents that ‘[they] will be receiving new bathroom badges tomorrow.’
She told the parents to call her if they had any questions.
Not long afterwards, Charita Smith – the principal of Bartlett Elementary School – sent the parents a separate message, notifying them that the teacher has been put on leave while her actions are being investigated.
In the email, Smith said she has spoken to the parents of those who had accidents and that the class will be taught by another staff member for the time being.
While her email suggested only two students urinated on themselves,, a Conroe school district spokesperson later said there had actually been five students who had accidents. Continuing, she said the children were given clean clothes following the incident.
The Conroe district spokesperson also confirmed that the teacher ‘is no longer employed’ with the school district. They also added that the incident is not reflective of the many ‘exceptional teachers’ that they have working across the region.
Amber Johnson, the parent who wrote the original social media post is ‘happy’ that the Conroe district acted the way they did but are urging officials to ensure that the former teacher will not be able to work elsewhere in the country as no student should be ‘traumatized and humiliated’ like those who were in her classroom.
While the teacher in question had not been identified by the school district, several news outlets including the Daily Mail and Lone Star Live has since identified them as Ashley Barrera.
This has been confirmed by Johnson’s Facebook post, which included the message from a ‘Ms Barrera’.
