Pasco County school leaders are putting their foot down on potty-training.
Too many kindergartners and first-graders are coming to school without the skills needed to go to the bathroom by themselves, said superintendent John Legg during their Tuesday board meeting.
The issue is so prevalent, it's starting to put a strain on teachers, Legg said.
And they may have to start sending kids home if they aren't properly potty-trained.
"We want our students to be in school," said Legg. "However, it is not the kindergartner teachers' responsibility to be changing diapers for kindergartners."
The superintendent added that he is not referring to students with developmental disabilities. In those cases, the school will work to provide the appropriate accommodations.
For special needs students, Legg said the district is also looking at ways they can identify developmental issues earlier so they can place students in the right settings.
A spokesperson for the Pasco County Schools said their "goal is not to place blame, but to encourage honest conversations and strong partnerships that help ensure students are successful while also maintaining safe, respectful, and instructionally focused learning environments."
But Pasco isn't the only district dealing with a potty problem, Legg said.
"It is an alarming trend, not just in Pasco, but in the state of Florida, in the United States, since Covid, that students are not independent when they enter into kindergarten," said Legg.
A spokesperson for Pinellas County Schools said the district has seen in recent years a "steady number of kindergarten students who are not potty-trained," which requires school administrators and staff to work with families on a case-by-case basis.
Potty training is not a widespread issue in the Hernando County School District, said a district spokesperson.
In Hernando, Sarasota and Manatee counties, voluntary prekindergarten programs require parents to sign an acknowledgement form confirming their child is toilet-trained.
Hillsborough County School officials have not yet replied to a request for comment.
Personal hygiene standards for Florida's Division of Early Learning do say there is a benchmark for 4-year-olds to kindergartners to "initiate and complete familiar hygiene routines independently."
That can include following "the classroom’s procedures for toileting and hand-washing."
During the Tuesday meeting, board chair Colleen Beaudoin also remarked how the issue caught her by surprise.
"I've talked to several principals about that. I was stunned by the number of kindergartners coming in without being potty trained," Beaudoin said, "I was stunned by that."
While a number of parents are working with schools, Legg said some aren't.
"Some expect our kindergarten teachers to basically act as a parent. We are not their parent," he said.
Legg said they'll be "working with policies and procedures," as well as with national groups, to help address the issue so it doesn't become a distraction in the classroom.
That could mean requiring students to go home for a week "in order to get training with support, in order to get them ready to come back into the classroom."
