$4.5 billion price tag<\/a>, would bring 100,000 more children into programs across the state, including a new \u201c2-Care\u201d initiative for 2-year-olds in the Big Apple.<\/p>\nThe diaper duty debate comes as Mayor Zohran Mamdani pushes to expand child care. Andrew Schwartz \/ SplashNews.com<\/p>\n
Even before Mamdani and Hochul began crowing about the benefits for working parents, state officials laid the groundwork for dealing with the messy reality that everyone poops.<\/p>\n
The 2024 law aimed to set standards for dealing with toilet issues \u2014 but school employees have tried to argue they can\u2019t bear diaper duty.<\/p>\n
\u201cTeachers may be stretched too thin without added support and emphasized that adequate staffing and supplies would require additional funding,\u201d the state\u2019s summary reads.<\/p>\n
\u201cOthers argued that the NYS Learning Standards \u2018do not require teachers to provide toilet-training instruction,\u2019 underscoring that schools can support but should not replace the parental role.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nurses also weren\u2019t interested in changing soiled pants or diapers, the comments show.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome commenters emphasized the importance of defining the role of school nurses, particularly in relation to toileting and toilet training, and recommended that toileting should not be performed by a nurse.\u2019 These commenters maintain that toileting is an activity of daily living (ADL), not a nursing function, noting that hospital nurses have long delegated such tasks to aides,’\u201d the DOE summary said.<\/p>\n
The DOE said school districts must decide who will perform dooty duty.<\/p>\n
\u201cDecisions on how staff will provide diapering support must be made at the local level, based on local protocols, regulations, and operational needs,\u201d the department said.<\/p>\n
Mamdani and Gov. Kathy Hochul are pushing to expand pre-K and 3-K programs. Luiz C. Ribeiro for NY Post<\/p>\n
The law was pushed by the New York State United Teachers.<\/p>\n
The teachers\u2019 union maintains that School-Related Professionals \u2014 commonly known as paraprofessionals \u2014 should be responsible for both teaching students how to use the bathroom independently, and for diapering them, changing them, and cleaning up after them.<\/p>\n
\u201cWithout regulations from the state, some districts have been acting fast and loose with their approaches to this issue,\u201d an NYSUT newsletter states.<\/p>\n
One paraprofessional in Rochester complained that her school wanted her to change her student who has autism on the floor.<\/p>\n
She was able to get a changing table after lodging a complaint.<\/p>\n
The department said school districts will not receive additional funding to comply with the new policy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is currently no additional state funding available for implementation of the proposed statute or rule,\u201d the DOE said.<\/p>\n
The rule requires school districts to promote \u201ca safe and healthy environment to support diapering and toileting\u201d and establish a plan with protocols that outlines clear, age-appropriate routines for student privacy, hygiene, and supervision.<\/p>\n
Schools will also be required to provide annual training on health and safety procedures to all relevant staff.<\/p>\n
The rule requires space for restroom and diaper changing areas and these areas must be consistently maintained, cleaned, and appropriately equipped.<\/p>\n
Schools are barred from suspending, expellng or excluding a student from enrollment or participation in school or school programs based on their \u201ctoileting status\u201d \u2014 or not being potty trained.<\/p>\n
Toileting accidents must be handled with \u201csensitivity and without punishment, exclusion, or shaming,\u201d the rule states.<\/p>\n
The edict also requires schools to provide the support, services, and specialized equipment necessary for preschool and school-age students with disabilities who require assistance with toileting, in accordance with their individualized educational program (IEP) or special education plan.<\/p>\n
The state Board of Regents is expected to give final approval to the toiletry rule its next meeting after giving providing initial emergency adoption to comply with the timeline under the law.<\/p>\n
City education officials said their Division of Early Childhood Education has partnered with the United Federation of Teachers to develop and deliver professional learning resources for staff and teaching teams.<\/p>\n
The city\u2019s public schools have established protocols in line with the newly issued diapering the toileting rule, officials said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Reading, writing, arithmetic \u2014 and poop? New York education officials adopted emergency rules last week mandating that schools…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":203966,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[29314,426,57,9,24,55,54,56,47350,5271,25611,58,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-203965","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-city","8":"tag-bathrooms","9":"tag-kathy-hochul","10":"tag-metro","11":"tag-new-york","12":"tag-new-york-city","13":"tag-new-york-city-headlines","14":"tag-new-york-city-news","15":"tag-ny","16":"tag-pre-kindergarten","17":"tag-schools","18":"tag-toilets","19":"tag-us-news","20":"tag-zohran-mamdani"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203965","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=203965"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203965\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/203966"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=203965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=203965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=203965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}