A middle school teacher has been placed on administrative leave after a Washington middle schooler and her dad spoke up about the student’s being denied restroom access while menstruating and bleeding through her clothes.
Byllie Eighinger-Lemm, 13, a student at Yelm Middle School, said that on Tuesday, Oct. 15, she told her teacher she was having her period and needed to change her pad.
“I was straight up with her, and then, she was like, ‘go sit down,’” Eighinger-Lemm said.
The girl next texted her father, Bill Lemm, to explain that her teacher refused to give her permission to use the restroom. Lemm instructed his daughter to stand up and leave class to use the bathroom.
Eighinger-Lemm then exited the restroom covered in blood when another teacher met her in the hallway, escorted her back to the classroom to retrieve her belongings, then brought her to in-school detention.
Eighinger-Lemm said going back to the classroom had been extremely upsetting, particularly because she was aware that menstrual blood had soaked through her clothing.