SUWANNEE COUNTY, Fla. (WTXL) - The parent of a child who had an accident after an elementary teacher allegedly refused to him use the bathroom is now speaking out.
The Suwannee County School District confirmed that Veronica Daquila was placed on administrative leave with pay on Thursday. She is a second grade teacher at Suwanee Elementary who has been employed for over 30 years.
Since it's an open investigation, the district stated that they have no further comment at this time.
However, the mother of the child has plenty to say about the matter.
Beth Butler reached out to us and talked with us, saying that her 7-year-old son was not allowed to use the bathroom. Listen to her full interview below:
She says that she received an unusual message from her aunt that her child had an accident at school. As soon as her son got off the school bus, she realized that something was wrong.
"My son's a happy-go-lucky kid -- [he] was bawling, crying, talking about everybody was making fun of him," Butler explained. "I was like 'why are they making fun of you?' and he said it's because everyone is calling him 'pee boy.'"
When she asked why he didn't ask to go to the bathroom, he told her that he did and his teacher, Daquilla, wouldn't let him.
"He said, 'I went to her desk and asked to use the restroom and she told me no, so I went back to my desk and sat down. That was during math,'" Butler said. "[Later], he raised his hand and asked to use the restroom. She told him no again. My son then urinated himself, not being able to hold it any longer. Embarrassed, ashamed, and afraid he was gonna get in trouble, my son sat there in his soiled clothes."
The mother says that her son sat there until another student noticed the puddle and told the teacher.
Instead of getting the boy a change of clothes, Butler says Daquilla made him sit there unattended while she took the class out for recess. She claims the child spent about 30 minutes by himself before the teacher took him to the school's office.
"When my aunt finally got up there, I don't know how long my son was sitting up in the office, he was still in the soiled clothes," Butler claimed.
The mother says that the office staff never tried to get him any other clothes to change into.
"So not only did my son sit in his own pee because of a teacher depriving him of something people in prison do not even get deprived of, but he was publicly humiliated by his peers," Butler asserted. "He says he doesn't want to go back because he's gonna get made fun of."
Butler says that the teacher's actions are child abuse and she isn't alone.
She says that three kids have been pulled from the class because parents are frustrated with the teacher. An online petition has even been started calling for the teacher to be fired.
So far, the petition has over 150 supporters, several of them commenting that similar situations have occurred to their children as well.
