Utah could enact new bill banning toddlers from kindergarten unless they're POTTY-TRAINED after number of youngsters having accidents in class doubled

A Utah senator has demanded for toddlers who have not been toilet trained by their parents be denied admission to kindergarten after reports of 'accidents' double. 

Republican senator Douglas R. Welton has proposed the HB331 bill which states that schools can only admit children on the condition that they have been bathroom trained. 

The bill demands that the Utah State Board of Education create a process for schools to ensure incoming kindergarten students are toilet trained, including 'assurances from a parent'. 

The bill is in response to a growing number of cases of children not being trained over the past few years. 

Republican senator Douglas R. Welton has proposed the HB331 bill which states that schools can only admit children on the condition that they have been bathroom trained

Kindergarten teachers in several districts have said that they are encountering behaviors from children never seen before the pandemic.

'We're seeing some aggression and we're also seeing kids who aren't potty trained,' said Jennifer Millett, kindergarten specialist in the Granite School District. 

She further said that schools are now bringing in diaper changing stations and parents to help. 

The senator said the rising cases of children not being trained are creating health risks for toddlers and problems for teachers. 

Welton explained that when teachers chose to help children, they create 'liability' issues for themselves especially when a 'culture that seems to not trust teachers' exists. 

The bill demands that the Utah State Board of Education create a process for schools to ensure incoming kindergarten students are toilet trained, including 'assurances from a parent'

He further argued that if educators chose to not help child, they were then forcing them to sit in 'filth and squalor which is inhumane'.

'That's not what [teachers] signed up to do, to teach kids how to potty train. That's a parent issue. That should happen before kids get to kindergarten,' Welton said.

The bill reads: 'Beginning with the 2024-2025 school year, require a student to be toilet trained before being enrolled in kindergarten; establish requirements for an LEA's kindergarten enrollment process to include assurances from a parent that the parent's student is toilet trained.

'Create a process for an LEA to follow when an enrolled student in kindergarten is found to not be toilet trained, including: referring the student and the student's parent to a school social worker or counselor for additional family supports and resources.'

The proposed bill further states that once students have been trained, they are brought back to the classroom and appropriate exemptions for toddlers who cannot be trained due to disabilities or certain conditions are put in place. 

'Reintegration of a student once the student has become toilet trained; and create exemptions from the requirement in Subsection (6)(a) for a student who is not able to be toilet trained before kindergarten because of a condition described in an IEP or Section 504 accommodation plan,' the bill reads. 

A hearing date is yet to be set for the bill.