Principal apologizes for poop bag incident

PEYTON, Colo., Sept. 11 (UPI) -- A Peyton, Colo., elementary school principal has apologized to parents and teachers for a "lesson" that involved students looking inside a bag of human waste.

Peyton Elementary Principal Michael Auclaire said Tuesday the incident Monday was the result of frustration he and the school's janitorial staff felt at the reoccurring messes in the bathroom frequented by fourth and fifth grade girls, The (Colorado Springs) Gazette reported Thursday.

He said the intention of having the children don gloves and look inside the bag of feces and urine was to help the children understand that it is inappropriate to defecate on the floor or toilet seats of the bathroom. However, he conceded that having the children handle the bag "was not the best thing to do."

"So today I went in and apologized to the kids, and I wrote a letter to apologize to their parents," he said.

Some parents questioned whether Auclaire, who started at the school this year, should be fired over the incident.

"I don't know if an apology is enough," parent Kerri Peters said. "How is he any better than the child who did this?"

She and other parents said no notices had been sent home about the bathroom problems prior to the incident.