Teacher Suspended for Restroom Incident

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: March 2, 2006

CLEARWATER, Fla. (AP) -- A teacher who did not allow a student to use the restroom was recommended for suspension after the student urinated in a trash can in a classroom closet, officials said.

Lesley Campbell, 64, violated the school district's policy prohibiting a teacher from ''exposing a student to unnecessary embarrassment or disparagement,'' district officials said.

Clayton Wilcox, superintendent of Pinellas County schools, says Campbell should be suspended without pay for 10 days.

''Certainly the student did some things that were highly inappropriate, but my focus is on the behavior of the employees and then, separately, on the students,'' Wilcox said.

Campbell said when she told the high school junior in November he could not use the restroom, he suggested urinating in the can.

''Surely, I never thought he would use the trash can,'' Campbell said. ''It was astonishing. By the time he had grabbed the can and headed for the closet, I didn't feel comfortable approaching him.''

Campbell, an English teacher who has taught at Clearwater High School for 20 years, has requested a hearing on her recommended suspension.