Teacher on leave for making student use bucket as toilet

Teacher on leave for making student use bucket as toilet

April 8, 2005

KNOXVILLE (WATE) -- Knox County school representatives say a teacher has been put on back on administrative leave after she forced a four-year-old female student to use a bucket as a toilet in front of her classmates. [ first investigation ]

The student, Adaisha, has been moved to a different class.

The teacher, Sheila Knight, was originally given a warning and allowed to return to work. However, Superintendent Charles Lindsey is reviewing the case again and other action may be considered.

In March, Angela Hagler says her daughter was humiliated in front of her pre-school class when her teacher tried to make the little girl use a bucket as a toilet. "She told me her teacher herself unbuttoned her pants, unzipped them, pulled her pants down, then pulled her panties down and made her sit on the bucket."

Adaisha is a student at Sam E. Hill Family Community Center. Her mother says her daughter's classmates were in a classroom when the incident happened.

"The teacher actually called me at work and admitted she done it," her mother says. "She said my daughter and two other girls at nap time, they have to go to the bathroom and when they take them, they really don't have to go. So, she was trying to make a point."

Angela says she filed a formal complaint with the school. Administrators from Knox County schools and officials from the Department of Children's Services were called in to investigate.

Representatives from the district originally said there wasn't enough evidence to release Knight from her position. They also said investigators from DCS aren't pressing charges.

Knight has been employed by Knox County schools for 19 years. She has no prior record.