Potty Training as Legal Pre-requisite for Kindergarten Admission

Excerpts from a report out of Utah:

Utah parents would need to provide assurances that their child is potty trained to enroll them in kindergarten under a proposal under consideration by the Utah Legislature.

Rep. Douglas Welton, R-Payson, said the intent of HB331 is to “allow our teachers to teach and keep our kids safe and healthy as well.”

A significant number of children entering kindergarten are not potty trained, something that became more evident as Utah schools pivoted to full-day kindergarten classes, Welton said.

Teachers were concerned about the legal risk of assisting children while toileting or changing students who have soiled their clothing, he said.

“You’re asking teachers who already seem to be distrusted a little bit by certain segments of the population and you’re asking them to go and help facilitate a child use the restroom. That’s a big risk that a lot of them don’t want to take and shouldn’t have to take,” said Welton.

But if a child has an accident, “they are sitting in a mess and that’s not healthy and sanitary for anybody and that’s very problematic.”