Hot on HuffPost Parents:
Dr. Peggy Drexler: The Breadwinner Complex: Are Women Apologizing For…
Guideposts : Meet The Canine Minister To A Man With Alzheimer's
Teacher Suspended for Allegedly Making Kids Scrub Toilet
Filed under: In The News
All clean! Credit: Getty Images
Outrageous, right?
You shouldn't have to scrub toilets that hard until you're an adult.
The London Daily Mail reports Catherine Saur, an art teacher at Kennelly Elementary School in Hartford, Conn., allegedly has some cleanliness issues. Whenever one of her students had to use the potty, she supposedly made the child clean the porcelain. Thoroughly.
This went for two years, the Mail reports, until some parents had enough. Now Saur is under suspension while school authorities investigate parents' complaints.
Those complaints include horror stories of kids peeing their pants to avoid going to the bathroom and one child who suffered a severe allergic reaction to the bleach he was required to use to clean the toilet.
That child's mother was incensed that her boy was ordered to clean a toilet.
"That's the custodian's job," the Daily Mail quotes her from a meeting at the school.
School district spokesman Dave Medina tells the Daily Mail the district doesn't comment on personnel matters. Saur declines to comment.
Not everyone thinks Saur is a heartless fiend. The Daily Mail reports PTA Secretary Nancy Moreaux spoke poetically in defense of Saur at the same school meeting.
"If you sprinkle when you tinkle," she said, "please be neat and wipe the seat."
Want to get the latest ParentDish news and advice? Sign up for our newsletter!











ReaderComments (Page 5 of 5)
5-27-2011 @ 7:24PM
Lita said..."Pleasedontbreed" says, Oh look, more parents whining about how their 'precious, unique little snowflake' shouldn't have to do any manual labor. Glad to see the trend of raising overly entitled, spoiled brats is still strong.
Clearly, you have lost your mind. Do you scrub down the toilet at your workplace, or are the custodian/maintenance crew expected to do it? Please follow the advice that your screenname suggests.
Reply
5-27-2011 @ 7:29PM
Barbara Sanders said...Here again.........morons..........their is a consequence for every action......and apparently this mother doesn't teach her child at home, respect for others, and be "socialized"...It was a good lesson for this kid....that he prob.doesn't get at home.
Reply
5-27-2011 @ 7:31PM
DJParker said...I think this training is a good idea, however it is being done in reverse order. We have a whole host of adults and visitors in this country who need instructions in the use of the toilet facilities, starting out with putting the toilet paper in the toilet after use, not in the corner. The hand paper goes in the trash can. Raising the toilet seat before urination is a must.. Respect for those that follow is necessary. This should be a part of the "Naturalization" Process. Rubbing noses in the mess is appropriate. This is not racial profiling.
Reply
5-28-2011 @ 2:56AM
Marit Londeaux said...Teachers can be very cruel. When my son was in 5th grade he started having an upset stomach while sitting in class. He was frantically waving his hand to ask the teacher to be excused but she was in the middle of giving a lesson and chose to ignore him. He tried to hold it, but couldn't, and ended up having diarrhea in his pants. The kids around him could smell it and started to tease him. The teacher never addressed the problem and for the rest of the afternoon my son walked around with poop in his pants. When I picked him up from school, the moment he got in the car he burst into tears. When he told me what had happened I was furious. The next day I demanded to speak with the principal and said this teacher should be suspended. She wasn't, however my son was moved to another class. I told the principal that I had given my son permission to walk out of the class to use the bathroom if he ever was ignored again. That was many years ago but I still get infuriated every time I think of that day.
Reply
5-27-2011 @ 7:48PM
Janice said...Lucky that wasn't my children, that teacher would drink what ever she had them clean with. That is a fact..........
Reply
5-27-2011 @ 7:50PM
Lisa said...I dare a teacher make my child scrub a public toilet. I'll friggin raise hell at that school and clean the toilet with that teacher's face. Her issues are not my child's problem nor my problem. It's a shame the parents allowed this to happen as long as it went on.
There is a MAJOR difference between being neat when you use the bathroom vs. scrubbing the toilet every time you use the bathroom.
The parents should have taken action sooner. I would never allow a teacher to treat my child like that.
Reply
5-27-2011 @ 8:00PM
tana green said...Teacher out of control. Give her job to someone better qualified.
Reply
5-27-2011 @ 8:21PM
Rick Eaton said...ALOT of you are opening up a whole new can of worms here. In case you haven`t heard, this is the ``politically correct age`` The word `janitor` is right up there with dykes(lesbians)-fags(gay men)-retarded(mentally challenged). etc etc. They are `custodians`. This is the real story here, all of you calling them janitors! lol
Reply
5-28-2011 @ 11:43AM
Ana said...This is not the worst thing happening in school these days. We bought a house in a very nice neighborhood and pay extremely high taxes. Did our child get a good education this year? No he did not. We had him tested outside of school and it looks like he never even went to first grade. We will be paying$6,000 this summer to try and prepare him for second grade. My child is not a behavior problem. He has an average I.Q. What went wrong? I am sure a number of you will assume it was my husband and my fault. The fact is that his Teacher missed 25 days the first semester. We contacted the school about this but they said they didn't know anything about it. Even when the teacher was at school she wasn't really there. I asked what reading level my son was on. She refused to tell me. I spoke to the the school about this but they wouldn't help. I asked where his school work was. I was told they only do work groups not worksheets. We wouldn't know he didn't understand something until he failed a test. The e-mails they sent out weekly were hard to understand. I mean what is a burger or a Vern? In febuary the teacher quit. This devastated the kids. A month later my son informed me that the old teacher had lowered his reading group at Christmas. She must have forgot to mention it at the school party. Who holds these people accountable? They swear next year they will keep a close eye on my son. How can I trust them? I did everything I could to communicate with them but they just ignored me until I had the test results from a qualified outside source. If it was just my child I would have assumed it was our fault but other parents from this class are having the same problems. I am concerned about children being forced to clean the toilets at school but maybe your school has decided this is the only education your child need. Next year they will learn how to flip burgers. What can we do to change this? What happened to no child left behind?
Reply
5-28-2011 @ 12:28PM
oyvey said...Well... just reading these comments shows EXACTLY what is wrong with parents in America, today. They were spoiled rotten brats and so are their own kids. Most families want everything they see so they have both parents working full time outside the home and the kids pretty much are on their own. With TV and violent video games as the babysitter, what do you expect? No respect is taught because the parents don't use it, themselves. How many unruly preschool children have you seen? I know families that are absolutely dominated by children like you see on that British nanny show (loved that show; should be required viewing by everyone!) First thing you should teach your very, very young child is "NO" and "QUIET", followed by names, phone numbers, addresses FOR SAFETY'S SAKE. THEN, build on their having learned No and Quiet with respect and politeness. This is something the parents may have to learn, first! I have a neighbor that thinks he's "the man", yet I dread to see what his son turns out to be as the man is actually a bully as are his close friends. They obviously never learned a lesson in their lives. They try to run the neighborhood and have actually forced a family out. I steer clear, VERY clear. Because...honey, I will not START a fight, but I sure will finish one. Oh dear!! You guys are getting to me! It's CATCHY!
Reply
5-28-2011 @ 12:33PM
gettherealnews said...BOY! If THIS article really bothers you... click on the link inside the article in blue highlight "making children scrub toilets" that will take you to the ACTUAL ARTICLE with REAL pictures (not the BS shown here).... THAT will raise the hairs on your neck!!
Reply