Fla. teacher removed after asking child to clean up urine

A kindergarten teacher was removed from classroom duties Wednesday pending investigation of an incident in which she is accused of asking a 6-year-old girl to clean up another student's urine and then rewarding the girl with play money.

Port St. Lucie police were called to Floresta Elementary School Wednesday, two days after the alleged incident happened, when the 6-year-old's mother came to the school "very upset," according to the police report.

School Principal Harriett McGriff told police she spoke with kindergarten teacher Martha Ensley and that Ensley "admitted to having (the student) clean the urine and admitted giving her 'dolphin dollars' afterward," the report states.

"Dolphin Dollars" are play money given to Floresta Elementary students to reinforce good behavior. The play money can later be exchanged for toys and activities at a school store.

Police consulted with the state attorney's office and decided no crime had occurred.

Janice Karst, school district director of communications, said an internal investigation is under way to determine if school administrative rules had been broken.

The student's mother could not reached by phone Wednesday afternoon, and Floresta Elementary administrators referred inquiries to Karst.

The investigating officer met with Ensley and asked the teacher to explain what happened. According to the officer's report, Ensley said she has a classroom policy that students are supposed to clean up their own restroom messes.

"She told me she has a particular student who frequently urinates on the toilet seat, the floor and on the walls," the officer wrote. "Additionally, this student does not follow the rules and will not clean up his mess."

Ensley is quoted in the report as saying the 6-year-old girl followed usual procedure by raising her hand and telling her the bathroom was fouled with urine.

"Mrs. Ensley told me she was in the middle of a lesson," the report states, "and told (the girl) to just clean it up. (The girl) returned to the restroom and wiped up the urine. (Ensley) then gave (the student) Dolphin Dollars as a reward."

Ensley told police she did not enter the restroom and did not know how much urine was in it. Later, the girl described it for police and school officials as "a yellow puddle on the floor."

The officer's report states that "Mrs. Ensley admitted she made a poor decision" and "was not trying to demean the student or cause her any harm."

The officer reported Ensley also said "that this type of things happens often in kindergarten and asked what to do if a custodian was not available. I offered her some suggestions in regards to obtaining some cleaning solutions and rubber gloves for herself, but advised her against having children clean up bodily fluids, especially from other students."