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1st-grade students 'humiliated' after wetting themselves because teacher reportedly took away bathroom pass
An elementary teacher in Texas is currently on leave after she allegedly revoked bathroom privileges for her entire first-grade class, and some students ended up wetting themselves and going home with soiled clothing.On Wednesday, students in Ashley Barrera's first-grade class allegedly began misbehaving in the hallway at Bartlett Elementary School in Conroe, a city of 103,000 residents about 40 miles north of Houston. In reprisal, Ms. Barrera reportedly took away their bathroom privileges in apparent defiance of the district's Student Code of Conduct.'There was a puddle of urine under the chair that nobody came to help with, and nobody came to clean her up for the remainder of the day.'A report from KPRC, which can be viewed here, indicated that students may have been denied access to the bathroom for up to three hours between lunch and afternoon dismissal. During that time, multiple students "ended up peeing on themselves," according to a message Barrera reportedly sent to parents later that day.In the alleged message, Barrera apologized for the incident but also seemed to suggest that the students were somehow in the wrong."I had talk [sic] with the students about how important it is to use our thing appropriately, but please have a talk with them about that as well," she apparently wrote without explaining what "our thing" is.Far from taking her side, parents are outraged that students were denied access to the restroom and were then allegedly forced to sit in wet, dirty, smelly clothing."If I sent my child to this school smelling like that, they would call CPS and have me investigated and try to have my child taken away from me. So how is it OK for my child to go to school clean, prepared, and come home smelling like that?" said Joseph McCauley, a father of one of the children who had an accident, according to KTRK.Amber Johnson, whose daughter is likewise in the class, offered even more disturbing details. "These kids are traumatized and humiliated," she claimed. "They were made fun of. They were crying, begging, pleading, and asking multiple times to go to the restroom, and they were refused."Yet another student told his mother, Ashley Chancey, about his desk partner's humiliation after she wet herself in her seat."He said there was urine all over the little girl. There was a puddle of urine under the chair that nobody came to help with, and nobody came to clean her up for the remainder of the day," Chancey recalled, according to the Daily Mail.The boy further indicated that the poor girl was "absolutely mortified" after "the class erupted in laughter," Chancey explained.Exactly how many students had accidents that day is unclear. A letter from Principal Charita Smith made reference to "both students who, upsettingly, had accidents," an indication that there had been only two. But Amber Johnson claimed she had heard that as many as six students had soiled themselves."THESE KIDS WERE MADE TO SIT IN THEIR P*SS CLOTHES ALL DAY LONG," she wrote on Facebook. She further alleged that parents were not informed about the incident until "2 minutes before DISMISSAL."Johnson described Barrera's alleged punishment as "inhumane" and claimed it could cause health problems such as urinary-tract infections."This is sick," she posted to Facebook.KPRC received reports of similar issues in Barrera's classroom lately. The outlet also heard that another teacher was in the room during the incident, but district administrators told KPRC they could not verify that information.Barrera has been placed on leave, it was confirmed to the outlet.According to Lonestar Live, Principal Smith sent the following letter home to parents:This afternoon, we were made aware of a situation in a first-grade classroom in which restroom privileges were revoked. I have spoken with the parents of both students who, upsettingly, had accidents. The class will have a current staff member to serve as the substitute teacher for the remainder of the week while we complete our investigation into the matter. This incident is not indicative of the safe and loving environment we foster at Bartlett Elementary. I thank you for your support and continued partnership. Charita Smith, Bartlett Elementary Principal.Blaze News reached out to Principal Smith but did not receive a response.H/T: Corey DeAngelisLike Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!