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Mill Plain Elementary in Vancouver, Washington.

(screengrab from Google Maps)

A Vancouver, Washington school district has removed a teacher while the school investigates claims that students wet their pants due to that teacher's bathroom policy.

Third grade students at Mill Plain Elementary earn play money that they can exchange for treats, KIRO-TV reported. The money can be used to buy things like popcorn or small toys, but it is also used as a bathroom pass.

In two cases last week, children chose to spend money on treats instead of bathroom breaks, and wet themselves because they didn't have enough money for a trip to the restroom, according to their parents.

The investigation began after KATU.com posted a story in which Jasmine Al-Ayadhi said her 9-year-old daughter, Reem, wet herself in class as a result of the "pay to potty" policy.

"I'm so angry!" Al-Ayadhi told KATU.com. "When a child has to pay money to use the bathroom...It's inhumane. That's a health issue."

Al-Ayadi said she didn't have a problem with policies that teach students the value of money, but that making students use it for bathroom breaks was outrageous.

"This is a school," she said. "This isn't a jail. This isn't a prison. We send our kids to school to learn and to get a good education."

After the KATU.com report, a second parent, Merchon Ortega, filed a similar complaint saying that her daughter, Lilliana, also had an accident in the same class on the same day.

According to a follow-up KATU.com report, trips to the bathroom under the policy cost $50 in fake money.

"What kid is going to spend money to go to the bathroom?" Merchon said. "No child should have to pay to use the restroom. Are you kidding me? That's absolutely insane."

Evergreen School District spokeswoman Gail Spolar told KIRO-TV that "pay to potty" is not a school policy. Teachers are left to decide how to keep students accountable for bathroom breaks on their own.

"We're never going to prevent a child who is in an emergency situation from going to the bathroom," Spolar told KATU.com. "We don't want the children to have accidents. We don't want the children to have health and safety issues and so that's part of that investigation is how the procedure is being done."

According to KATU.com, Ortega's daughter had the $50 needed to use the bathroom, but didn't want to spend it on a bathroom break. Al-Ayadhi's daughter said she wanted to buy popcorn like her friends, and was told she couldn't use the bathroom if she didn't want to pay.

"It makes me feel kind of horrible in somebody else's pants and undies and I just wanted to stay in my clothes," Lilliana told KATU.com.

Both Al-Ayadhi and Ortega said they weren't notified about the accidents, and only found out when their daughters came home in different clothes.

The teacher has been replaced with a substitute while the investigation is ongoing. Spolar refused to name the teacher, or give specifics about how long the substitute's stay would be.

Both mothers want the policy stopped and action taken against the teacher.

Do you think "pay to potty" is an appropriate school policy? Watch the KATU.com video and leave a comment below.