Republican Senator Douglas R. Welton proposed a bill requiring that young children who have not been potty trained by their parents be denied admission to kindergarten.
Teachers in several districts said they are encountering more children who are not trained since the pandemic.
The senator said rising cases of children not receiving training create health risks for young children and problems for teachers.
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A Utah senator has demanded that young children who have not been potty trained by their parents be denied admission to kindergarten after reports of “accidents” doubled.
Republican Senator Douglas R. Welton has proposed the bill HB331 which states that schools can only admit children on the condition that they are toilet trained.
The bill requires the Utah State Board of Education to create a process for schools to ensure that students entering kindergarten are toilet trained, including “parental assurances.”
The bill responds to the increasing number of cases of children not receiving training in recent years.
Republican Senator Douglas R. Welton proposed HB331, which states that schools can only admit children on the condition that they are potty trained.
Kindergarten teachers in several districts have said they are encountering child behaviors never seen before before the pandemic.
“We are seeing some aggression and we also see children who do not know how to go to the bathroom,” saying Jennifer Millett, kindergarten specialist for the Granite School District.
He further said that schools are now bringing in diaper changing stations and parents to help.
The senator said rising cases of children not receiving training are creating health risks for young children and problems for teachers.
Welton explained that when teachers decide to help children, it creates “liability” issues, especially when there is a “culture that doesn’t seem to trust teachers.”
The bill requires the Utah State Board of Education to create a process for schools to ensure that students entering kindergarten are toilet trained, including “parental assurances.”
He further argued that if educators decided not to help children, they were forcing them to sit in “filth and misery that is inhumane.”
‘That’s not what [teachers] signed up to do, to teach children how to potty train. That’s a parenting question. That should happen before kids reach kindergarten,” Welton saying.
The bill says: ‘Beginning with the 2024-2025 school year, require a student to be toilet trained before enrolling in kindergarten; establish requirements that an LEA’s kindergarten registration process include assurances from parents that the parent’s student is toilet trained.
‘Create a process that an LEA must follow when it is discovered that a student enrolled in kindergarten is not toilet trained, including: referring the student and his or her parent to a social worker or school counselor for additional family support and resources.’
The proposed bill further states that once students have been trained, they will be returned to the classroom and appropriate exemptions will be established for young children who cannot receive training due to disabilities or certain conditions.
‘Reintegration of a student once toilet trained; and create exemptions from the Subsection (6)(a) requirement for a student who is unable to be toilet trained before kindergarten due to a condition described in an IEP or Section 504 accommodation plan,’ the bill says.
A hearing date for the bill has not yet been set.