A Hartford school teacher has been placed on administrative leave after school officials say she forced students to clean a toilet in a portable classroom.
HARTFORD, Conn. - If cleanliness is indeed next to godliness, then Hartford art teacher Catherine Saur might be considered a saint.
Unfortunately for her, many parents at the E.B. Kennelly Elementary School aren't seeing things that way.
Saur was placed on administrative leave after Jane Russell, a parent of a student in Saur's 8th-grade class, complained to school officials on May 17 after her son's hands showed redness and signs of irritation from cleaning the toilet in his classroom.
Russell claims that her son was forced to use bleach to clean a bathroom in a portable classroom, even if he only entered to use the sink.
Although no one is denying Saur had a strict rule about cleaning the bathroom after using it, school officials refuted the bleach claim while condemning the overall practice at an emergency PTO meeting on the issue.
Many parents, including Yulissa Espinal, expressed outrage over the situation. Espinal has two children enrolled in the school, according to a report by the Hartford Courant, and she expressed concern about her 7-year-old daughters recent incontinence.
"She had wet underpants because she didn't want to clean the toilet," Espinal told the Courant. "I identify with this mom (Russell) and this kid because I don't want to be in this position."
Not everybody is angry at Saur however.
Nancy Moreaux, secretary of the school's PTO said that she supported the practice, or at least the idea behind it.
"If you sprinkle when you tinkle, please be neat and wipe the seat," she told a reporter for NBC Connecticut.
Russell reportedly contacted Peter Dart, the school's principal, after learning about Saur's rule, which has reportedly been in effect for the past two years.
According to WFSB.com, Dart sent a letter out to parents on Monday and met with them on Tuesday.
While Saur is out of the classroom pending the results of the investigation, the issue has been brought to the attention of the Connecticut Department of Children and Families and the Hartford Public Schools Board of Labor Relations.