Overview:
Anne Arundel County becomes the latest of the state's four largest districts to put toileting duties on classroom staff, a requirement education experts say is unique among the states.
Maryland’s four largest school systems now require teachers and other staff to help young children with toileting, a duty that has accompanied the state’s rapid expansion of publicly funded pre-kindergarten and that, according to education experts, makes Maryland the only state to assign the task directly to teachers rather than aides or nurses.
The shift stems from the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, the sweeping 2021 education law that broadened access to free, full-day pre-K for lower-income, immigrant and minority families and added millions of dollars to the state’s prekindergarten grant program. Under state rules tied to the law, schools cannot deny enrollment to pre-K or kindergarten students because they are not toilet-trained, and self-care skills cannot be used as a condition of admission.
Anne Arundel County Public Schools, the state’s fourth-largest district with roughly 84,000 students and home to the capital, Annapolis, became the latest to adopt the approach in May. The school board unanimously approved a regulation making pre-K and kindergarten staff responsible for moving students toward toileting independence. Montgomery County, Baltimore County, and Prince George’s County had already put similar policies in place after the 2021 law took effect.
A response to a growing classroom reality
District leaders frame the policy as a practical answer to a problem they say is becoming more common: more 5-year-olds are entering kindergarten unable to use the bathroom on their own, prompting Anne Arundel to fold toilet training into the responsibilities of teachers and staff, WTOP News reported. Speaking at the county Board of Education meeting on May 6, Superintendent Mark T. Bedell said, “Our kids should not be coming into kindergarten not potty trained.” He added that the problem is not unique to his district, noting that some places have begun writing and designing curriculum around helping children become potty-trained.
The regulation, adopted unanimously by the board, makes helping a child work toward toileting independence a staff responsibility and keeps the district in line with state laws requiring children over age 5 to attend school regardless of their toilet training. It applies to students with and without special education accommodations. Board member Joanna Bache Tobin said the system cannot and should not turn children away, arguing that doing so would penalize them for what their parents did not do. She framed the relationship between schools and families as a partnership, saying neither side should step into the other’s lane but that schools have no choice when gaps exist.
Sonya McElroy, the county’s director of special education services for children from birth through age 5, said the situation had become a liability for schools, with many complaints coming from parents who reported that students had been left in soiled underwear, diapers and pull-ups. Parents, she said, were less worried about staff helping their children in the bathroom; under the new policy, families must complete a permission form or provide an emergency contact who can be asked to come to the school and tend to a child without delay.
The need is rising alongside enrollment. State figures show pre-K participation jumped from about 23,600 children in 2021 to a record of roughly 47,800 last year, prompting an indefinite enrollment freeze that has left thousands of children on a waiting list.
Teachers push back
The new duties have not been universally welcomed by educators. During Anne Arundel’s 30-day public comment period, several early-elementary teachers signed a letter to the board warning that routine potty training shifts a core developmental responsibility away from families and onto classroom staff. They acknowledged supporting children through occasional accidents but distinguished that from taking on training itself.
The Maryland State Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union, has issued legal guidance acknowledging that toileting assistance now falls to school staff and laying out steps to limit liability. The union advises that two adults be present whenever a student needs hands-on personal care, that staff never leave a child unattended on a toilet or changing table, that incidents be carefully documented, and that students’ privacy and dignity be preserved throughout. It also urges teachers to request supplies such as gloves, wipes and changing mats, and to contact their local union representatives with questions.
District officials have repeatedly stressed that parents remain responsible for working on toilet training at home, with several board members calling for stronger efforts to educate families about their role.
A national debate
Maryland’s approach sits at one end of a widening national divide over who is responsible for toilet training. Utah now requires children to be toilet-trained before enrolling in public school unless they have a documented disability, and a Florida district has weighed a similar rule. Other districts take a middle path, setting individual goals for each child and asking parents to mirror the plan at home.
