A mother in Little Rock, Arkansas is calling for a teacher’s termination after her child was forced to clean a toilet with his bare hands.
What We Know:
- Last weekend, a Black 5-year-old kindergarten student from Crystal Hill Elementary School told his mother, Ashley Murry, about an incident that happened at school. The boy alleges that on Friday, March 5th, his white teacher Karla Lasiter told him he had used too much toilet paper. The teacher then instructed him to pull toilet paper out of the clogged toilet with feces in it using his bare hands.
- ABC 7 News reported that Ashley Murry spoke with Crystal Hill’s school principal on Monday to have her son moved to a different class. Lasiter has since apologized for the incident, but Murry is not taking the matter lightly.
“I feel like she needs to be trained, suspended or terminated or something because that’s unacceptable,” she said. “I want my son to be in a safe environment, a good environment.”
- Grandmother Tami Murry also wrote about the incident on Facebook. She feels that her grandson might have been targeted because he is Black. “I don’t know if it’s racism or pure dislike for him, but something isn’t right,” the post reads.
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=2732124430384723&id=100007615775055
- The Pulaski County Special School District said in a statement on Tuesday that they are “actively investigating” the allegation and cannot comment further on the incident because of district policy writing, “we cannot disclose information in regards to disciplinary personnel matters”. The teacher has been placed on administrative leave.
- It appears that this is not an isolated incident at Crystal Hill Elementary. Another mother has come forward saying the exact same thing happened to her daughter under a different teacher in the fall. The school district had told the unidentified mother that there would be an investigation. “This is a common occurrence at this school it seems. I told them I pay my taxes so you can have janitors at the school, not kids unclogging toilets,” she said.
A GoFundMe link has been created for the boy seeking counseling for the traumatic event and assistance with legal fees as the family attempts to seek justice from the school district. The page has reached double the amount of its $5,000 goal.
