A mother was shocked after learning from her 5-year-old son he was forced to dig out feces and used toilet paper from the school toilet using his bare hands.
On Tuesday, the kindergarten teacher from Crystal Hill Elementary School in Little Rock, Arkansas, was placed on administrative leave after allegedly forcing the student to reach into the clogged toilet to teach him a lesson.
"I was in disbelief," said the child's mother, Ashely Murry of last Friday's incident.
She told THV 11:
"He just came to me and said, 'She made me get my boo boo out with my bare hands in the toilet.' I'm like, 'are you serious?' He kept saying it and telling everybody and I know when he's lying."
Murry also spoke with NBC affiliate KARK-TV:
"It's degrading for a child, so I don't feel like any child should have to go through this. They basically made him go in the toilet and get his feces and the dirty tissue out of the toilet."
Murry said she immediately pulled her son from the class when she learned what the teacher did.
The distressed mother also said she personally heard from the teacher in question after informing the school principal about what happened. But the teacher provided no information beyond confirming she did what the child said.
"She got on the phone with me and she said she didn't have an explanation, she just knew she was wrong," Murry said.
"But she stated to the principal that she was trying to teach how not to stop up the toilet."
Murry's mother and former teacher, Tami Murry, said, "That's not good enough for me."
She, too, was horrified and said what the teacher did to her grandson was unacceptable and warranted further action beyond a phone call.
She told KARTK-TV:
"You want a child to put their hand in there physically and clean out the commode ― no, no, no, no, no. He's not a janitor, he's not a custodian, he's not maintenance, no, not at all."
The boy's grandmother added:
"I come from a long line of teachers. I taught school in the private sector. That is not what we're taught. You would never ever. You wouldn't even have to second guess yourself."
You can watch the news report below.
The Pulaski County Special School District (PCSSD) stated the human resources department was looking into the matter and the teacher was on administrative leave pending an invesigation.
In a statement, the PCSSD Superintendent, Charles McNulty, recognized the root of the matter was institutional and systemic.
"Systemic racism, classism, sexism ― they play a part of our daily lives, and sometimes these events overshadow who we are and who we need to be."
"Over the past three years, PCSSD has taken extensive steps to enhance equity and excellence across the district. Our professional staff continues to mirror our communities and the many cultures that thrive in our schools."
Social media users identified the teacher's name as Karla Lasiter.
IBT reported Lasiter's name was still on Crystal Hill's website as a kindergarten teacher in the Learning Services department and—according to Heavy—was listed in school district documentation that she makes more than $57,000 a year.
Murry said her son is experiencing emotional distress from the humiliating incident and called for the teacher's termination.
"She does not need to be teaching in any school district. She does not need to be around kids. Her license needs to be taken."
A GoFundMe was started on Murry's behalf for her son to raise money for therapy and "assistance with legal fees as they try to seek justice from the Pulaski County Special School District."
