GUSTINE, TX – Elementary school children in Gustine, Texas were forced to remove their pants and show their underwear for inspection after feces was found on the floor of the gym.
Boys and girls were separated by gender and order to pull down their pants to check them to see if teacher’s could find anything.
“I felt uncomfortable, and I didn’t want to do it,” said 11-year-old Eliza Medina. “I felt like they violated my privacy.”
Eliza’s mother was outraged that educators would stoop to such tactics simply because some child left fecal matter on the floor of the gym. “I was furious… I mean, I was furious,” Medina said. “If you can’t do your job or you don’t know what you’re doing, you need to be fired. You shouldn’t be here.”
Superintendent Ken Baugh says the behavior was inappropriate. “That’s not appropriate, and we do not condone that. So you would take disciplinary action.”
From 10News:
But Baugh said early into the investigation, his understanding is that the children were told to lower their pants just a little.
Eliza Medina insists it was more than that.
“Like… to where your butt is,” is how she put it.
And her mother contends that even if it were just a little (which she doesn’t think it was), having kids line up and expose their underwear for inspection is simply unacceptable.
“Wrong is wrong,” Medina said.
The superintendent is hoping to have his investigation into this incident wrapped up by Wednesday, after he has heard from all parties involved.
He may yet get an earful on Thursday night, though. Some angry parents are already planning to show up at the school board meeting to demand that someone be held accountable.
“Maybe we can find a much better way to solve this,” Superintendent Baugh said.
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