An Arkansas mother said her 5-year-old son's kindergarten teacher forced him to clean a clogged toilet with his hands after he used the bathroom.
Ashley Murry said the incident happened at Crystal Hill Elementary School in North Little Rock.
“It’s degrading for a child so I don’t feel like any child should have to go through this,” she told NBC affiliate KARK-TV. “They basically made him go in the toilet and get his feces and the dirty tissue out of the toilet."
Murry could not be reached by NBC News on Thursday.
She told KARK that she pulled her son from the classroom after learning what happened and she wants the teacher to be fired.
“She needs to be terminated because you don’t treat kids like this. He is a kid,” Murry told the outlet.
When contacted Thursday, the Pulaski County Special School District referred NBC News to online statements. Administrators said the incident, which happened on Friday, is being investigated and the teacher is on administrative leave pending the outcome.
"Pulaski County Special School District understands the concern and outrage over the incident at Crystal Hill Elementary on Friday, March 5. We take concerns related to the well-being of our students very seriously," the district said. "The health and safety of all of our students are always a priority. The human resources department continues to investigate the incident to ensure due process is afforded to all involved."
Murry said the teacher told the school's principal that she was trying to teach the child how not to stop up a toilet. Murry's mother, Tami Murry, said it should have been handled differently.
"You want a child to put their hand in there physically and clean out the commode? No, no, no, no. He's not a janitor, he's not a custodian, he's not maintenance. No, not at all," Tami Murry said.
