- Republican Senator Douglas R. Welton has introduced a bill that would require toddlers who have not been potty trained by their parents to be denied access to preschool
- Teachers in several districts said they are encountering more and more children who are not trained since the pandemic
- The senator said the increasing number of children not receiving education poses health risks for toddlers and problems for teachers
A Utah senator has demanded that toddlers who have not been potty trained by their parents be banned from preschool after reports of “accidents” doubled.
Republican Senator Douglas R. Welton has HB331 bill which states that schools can only admit children on the condition that they have undergone toilet training.
The bill requires the Utah State Board of Education to create a process for schools to ensure incoming kindergarteners are toilet-trained, including “guarantees from a parent.”
The bill is a response to the growing number of cases where children have not received an education in recent years.
Republican Senator Douglas R. Welton has introduced the HB331 bill, which would require schools to admit children only if they are toilet trained
Preschool teachers in several districts have said they are dealing with behavior from children never seen before the pandemic.
‘We see some aggression and we also see children who are not toilet trained’ said Jennifer Millett, preschool specialist in the Granite School District.
She further said that schools are now deploying diaper changing stations and parents to help.
The senator said the increasing number of children not receiving education poses health risks for toddlers and problems for teachers.
Welton explained that when teachers choose to help children, they create “liability issues” for themselves, 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 incoming preschoolers are potty trained, including “assurance from a parent.”
He further argued that if educators chose not to help the child, they then forced them to sit in “filth and misery that is inhuman.”
“That’s not what (teachers) signed up for, to teach children how to toilet train. That’s a parent issue. That needs to happen before children start kindergarten,” Welton said.
The bill states: “Beginning with the 2024-2025 school year, require a student to be toilet trained before entering kindergarten; establish requirements for an LEA’s kindergarten enrollment process, which must include assurances from a parent that the parent’s student is toilet trained.
“Create a procedure for an LEA to be followed when it is determined that an enrolled student in kindergarten is not toilet trained, including: Referring the student and the student’s parent to a school social worker or counselor for additional family support and resources. ‘
The proposed bill further provides that once students have been trained, they will be returned to the classroom and appropriate exemptions will be provided for toddlers who cannot be trained due to disabilities or certain conditions.
‘Reintegration of a student after the student has become toilet trained; and create exemptions from the requirement in subsection (6)(a) for a student who cannot be toilet trained before kindergarten because of a condition described in an IEP or Section 504 accommodation plan,” the bill states.
A hearing date for the bill has yet to be set.