Teacher In Piss-Poor Decision

NOVEMBER 5--A Florida kindergarten teacher has been removed from her classroom duties after asking a six-year-old student to mop up the urine of another child in a school restroom.

Educator Martha Ensley "admitted she made a poor decision" Monday morning in her classroom at Floresta Elementary School, according to this Port St. Lucie Police Department report. After Jada Portieles, 6, reported that another student had urinated on the bathroom floor, Ensley, 51, asked the girl to "help out" by cleaning up after a male classmate (who frequently pees all over the bathroom and refuses to "clean up his mess").

After Portieles mopped up the urine with toilet paper, Ensley rewarded the child with three "Dolphin Dollars," play money used within the school. Police began investigating the incident after Portieles's "very upset" mother came to school yesterday morning and told administrators about her daughter's work as a junior janitor.

After consulting with prosecutors, cops determined that Ensley had not committed a crime. The teacher claimed that she did not "realize the ramifications of her decision," and said she was not trying to "demean the student or cause her any harm." At one point, Ensley asked police if it was okay to have students clean glue off their desktops. A cop explained that, "there was a difference between cleaning glue and pencil marks and cleaning bodily fluid." (3 pages)