Our public education tax dollars at work

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. -- Orange County Public Schools is investigating claims that a student was forced to use a lunchbox as a toilet in front of his class at Meadowbrook Middle School.

The teacher will not be coming to school. She will be relieved of her duty with pay as the school district investigates, officials said.

"If you gotta go, you gotta go," student Quonterious Thomas told Eyewitness News in an interview Monday.

Thomas, 13, says his language arts teacher, Jameeka Chambers, gave him two options when he had to go to the bathroom at Meadowbrook Middle School in Orange County. She said he could wait until the end of class or use her lunchbox in the back of the classroom.

The sixth grader said he used her lunchbox.

"If I had waited any longer, I would have peed on myself and that would have been even more embarrassing," Thomas said, adding that his entire class of 19 students and his teacher watched.

When Thomas told his mom, she said she didn't believe it at first and later realized how traumatized he was.

"I have never, in all the days been living, ever heard about anything happening in all my life. This is a really big shocker for me," said Shameka Bryant, Thomas' mom.

Orange County Public Schools told Eyewitness News the claims are under investigation. The district has taken statements from students in the class, but has not spoken to the teacher.

Chambers has been out of town at an education conference in New Orleans. This is her first year on the job and her record is clean.

"I'm seeking counseling for him, asking questions. What was the purpose? I want to know," Bryant said.

Orange County Public Schools wouldn't specifically comment about what happened. The district says teachers have to allow students to use the restroom.

Three questions come to mind. One, was the lunchbox waterproof? Two, who emptied the lunchbox? Three, what kind of cretins are they hiring to teach school down in Florida and do you suppose that had anything to do with their population's apparent inability to figure out a simple paper ballot in the 2000 election?

Oh, and here's another question. Did the teacher, Jameeka Chambers, intend to keep on using the lunchbox to carry her lunch?