Please urinate in the bottle, says teacher

Salisbury, Maryland
Associated Press, December 14, 2006

A teacher who did not have time to escort three students to the restroom is under fire for allegedly telling them to urinate in a soda bottle.

The students did as they were told, said Thomas Field, interim superintendent of Wicomico County schools.

The incident happened Friday at Salisbury Middle School, where restroom vandalism led to a policy that some students had to be escorted to the restroom.

Students said the eighth grade teacher — who was not identified by the school pending a review of the matter — could not find anyone to escort three students and told them to urinate into a soda bottle.

Although the teacher has not been disciplined, Field said the administration's investigation was focused on the behavior of the teacher, not the students.

"In our judgement, now, the students did not do anything to warrant disciplinary action," Field told The Associated Press. "They did what they were told to do. We hold the adult responsible for what happened."

The fate of the teacher has yet to be determined, said Allen Brown, Wicomico County's assistant superintendent for Student Services.