![A row of school toilet cubicles with yellow doors. One of them is ajar, showing the toilet inside.](https://www.indy100.com/media-library/a-row-of-school-toilet-cubicles-with-yellow-doors-one-of-them-is-ajar-showing-the-toilet-inside.jpg?id=28057759&width=1245&height=700&quality=85&coordinates=0%2C110%2C0%2C110)
A elementary school teacher in Arkansas has been placed on administrative leave after they were accused of making a five-year-old child pupil clean faeces out of a toilet with their bare hands.
In a Facebook post, the child’s grandmother, Tami Murry, explained she received the news over a phone call.
“It was my middle daughter. ‘Mother, I have something to tell you and you are going to get very upset.’
“I said, ‘OK, tell me.’
“She said Ashton’s (my grandson) teacher made him put his hand in the [toilet] and clean out his faeces and tissue because he stopped up the [toilet],” she said.
A ‘Justice4Ashton’ fundraiser has since been set up on the crowdfunding website GoFundMe, with a description from the organiser stating that the child “has been traumatised and will need counselling” following the alleged incident.
It currently stands at more than $11,200, which is double its target amount.
The American news site WHAM reports that another mother with a pupil at the school claimed that their daughter experienced the same incident but under a different teacher.
“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.
Responding on Twitter, people described the story as “f**ked up” and “disturbing”.
@Complex This is the most disturbing thing I read all day wtf!— سارا (@سارا) 1615444925
@Complex What the fuck is wrong with these people bro??? Like what goes through their minds in these situations— AB (Formerly OVO Goon) (@AB (Formerly OVO Goon)) 1615413052
Others called for the teacher to be fired, rather than placed on administrative leave.
@Complex On leave???? That teacher needs to be FIRED FIRED— WiFye (@WiFye) 1615414787
@Complex I don’t think leave is enough— brody (@brody) 1615413039
In its latest statement published on Thursday, the Pulsaki County Special School District said “it is always our best intent” to have students’ safety and wellbeing as a “top priority”.
“The District will work to ensure that its mission of equity and excellence is upheld by all professional staff at all times,” they said.
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