Kindergartner Sent Home With Bag Of Feces

(AP)  A kindergarten child whose parents say he was sent home with a bag of feces tucked in his backpack will finish the school year at a different school.

West Valley School District Superintendent Peter Ansingh says district officials investigated the April 17 incident involving a longtime teacher and have taken "appropriate action." He declined to elaborate but says the teacher still has a job.

The superintendent says the district does not condone what happened.

The boy's father said Thursday his son will be working with a different teacher at another school in the same school district.

The Yakima Herald-Republic reports the father was encouraged by district officials' response.

The father says his son arrived home with the plastic bag of feces and a sticky note that read "This little turd was found on the floor in my room." The teacher has not returned calls seeking comment.

The father says his son spends part of the school day in a special needs class and part in kindergarten.

[godfirstcountrysecond]

I work with children and have to tell you that it does take a lot of patients. But that does not mean that I can do what ever I want. we are forming minds and self-esteem here people. Every child derserves a chance to learn. I love my special needs kids they are always so happy they make me smile every time I see them. They are always so nice and sweet even when you are having a horrible day, you look your worest or you smell. They don't care if you ever wanted to see pure love they have it. This teacher is a an embarassment to us all.

[technofamily]

I don't usually chime in but I have to in this case. I have two children an older typical child and a child with down syndrome. I too had her start kindergarten (by law she had to even though I wanted to wait an extra year). She was not fully potty trained. She had heart surgery in addition to other surgeries which delayed her. I had a teacher that understood that if she had an accident to immediately call me and I would come in and change her (she waited for me in the nurse's room). It didn't take long with the peer pressure to kick in and she no longer had accidents. I know how hard it is to include a child with a delay but it is so worth it and not just for my "PRECIOUS CHILD". The teachers have told me that the typical kids learn so much from her . They learn compassion, they learn patience, their self-esteem rises (if my daughter can try they certainly can). It's beautiful to see the children cheer her on and they feel a sense of friendship. They don't see her as the "weird kid in the back of the school" They see her as a peer who works hard and she has taught them a thing or two too (like sign language). I have been very fortunate to have teachers that have understood and saw the learning experience that she provided to students and teachers. This teacher does not have the heart to do what she is doing. The laws have been on the books for over a decade that a special needs child should be included whenever possible and if she can't handle that or doesn' t like it find a new career. I guarantee you that this child's parent tried to work with this teacher and that the reason he is satisfied that he no longer has this teacher is because he knew his child was being treated badly. It's not easy to have a child with a disability because all you ever hear is what your child will never do or can't do and it takes a teacher to see past that and remember that every child can learn maybe not at the same pace or not the same way but they can learn something. After much hassle and advocating my daughter is in a regular classroom with her peers gets pulled out for math and reading and is included in regular science and social studies because the teachers take the time to modify the way she tests. Is this all for me? No, it is for society I know of no "SPECIAL EDUCATION supermarkets or retail stores" If she doesn't learn to be part of society now what is going to happen to her after graduation and who is going to pay for it? If you want our kids to have a chance at contributing to society later we must start now. Ok, off my soapbox. This teacher should not be teaching anymore. Let her use her degree elsewhere.

Now they've got to deal with a special ed kid because you want your precious to be 'included'? You people make me sick. Posted by kalichan at 8:10 PM

To Kalichan- I feel so sorry for you. You obviously don't have children and one day when you do you will understand how profoundly cruel and nasty this comment is.

[dalexan909]

If you are so fragile and prissy and entitled that you can't clean up after a child, go somewhere else and as far away from society as possible so that your poison does not rub off on innocent souls. You should be charged with child endangerment. What made you so uncaring, so filled with hang-ups, so ignorant, and so self-absorbed that you felt the classroom was all about you? I hope you are droned out of the teaching profession. And I hope you get charged with attempted harm and use of biotoxins. If your world falls apart because something not unheard of in the teacher's realm occurred, seek help. Stay indoors. You are obviously having a hard time in the real world where there are real problems.

[theflorigamist]

I have a 5 year old son. I also have 2 "buddies" who are kindergarten teachers. You know what, that teacher is wrong, disgusting, and needs to find a new job. If you can't handle a child with "special needs", don't be a teacher. In my experience, teachers these days tend to be lazy and self-involved. Heck, my own friend who teaches kinder will fight on the phone with her boyfriend in the middle of class. She has been reported, she isn't tenured, and she still has her job. My sons teacher has verbally abused my son. Her response when asked why.... he has A.D.D. and she is special trained to deal with him, so I shouldn't question it. (That was the wrong answer, by the way!)
Also, FYI, a gas attendant, a Target employee, a school janitor, all have to be U.A.ed before lawful employment, but NOT A TEACHER. You have no idea what kind of people are in that classroom, destroying your childrens minds and self-esteems. If you did, you would home school.
I don't know the legalities of firing a tenured teacher who does abusive, unsanitary things to her students. But if she can't be fired after something like this, we need to change a few things.

[lel3eg]

The incident is certainly an example of poor decision making. I would be curious to know if the teacher was tenured. If this teacher is a tenured employee, firing the teacher would cost, at minimum, $100,000 to the district's taxpayers. I would add that teachers, depending on the state, receive tenure after about three years of employment. Yes, after only three years, a teacher is, for the most part, guaranteed a job for life. So to those who commented, "FIRE!", I say...."IF only!..."

[pinkypup]

I side with the teacher. The child special needs or not had done this several times before. This behavior was nothing new to the parents. The child should have had on diapers or pull ups.

Just because you are an educator doesn't mean that you are responsible for cleaning up crap.

Accident is one thing but just think is this fair to the other children? Is this fair to the teacher? She had probably reached the end of her rope and felt that she had no other options.

How many of the posters that say fire the teacher (unless they are health personnel, correctional personnel, special needs educators, parents, or caregivers) have to deal with bodily fluids daily?

[oreo1412]

Well some teacher lost her mind! What would have been wrong with sending a note without the baggie? Anyway, I realize they want to expose special ed kids to normal kids and I support that because I have a nephew with autism, but how about having some of the normal kids just visit the special ed class on certain days? Maybe even ask for volunteers to go have art time with the special ed kids or something like that? My nephew thinks other kids are babies and he pats them and occasionally tries to help them somehow, even when they are his own age or older. He does not have the cognitive abilities to care what age the kids are that he is hanging out with, he just enjoys them. So older kids could go to the kindergarten to draw and interact a little with these special kids and it would have the same effect to socialize them and show them behavior to emulate. That is the point of mainstreaming them, after all. If they are higher functioning special ed kids, then that's different but a lack of potty training will cause more trauma than good in a normal classroom.

[valh1]

This article sickens me. CBS needs to publish the school's address so we can send them bags of fake poop (sorry, the real thing would be really disgusting to handle) as our protest that this teacher has not been disciplined/fired.

[slantedview]

This is disgusting and it shows how a lot of the people who are teaching our children have no actual experience at all with children. You can't learn everything from a book.

Just what did she expect the parent to do? Discipline the child for having an accident who was for obvious reasons too ashamed or embarrassed to tell this insensitive and unprofessional teacher.

Other skills are needed for this job. She should not be teaching children.

[seezero1]

The teacher did not even get a slap on the wrist.