A Brooklyn schoolteacher has come up with a controversial plan to limit children's bathroom breaks during the school day.

Fifth-grade teacher Stephanie Warner enacted the policy last Friday after she became annoyed with students constantly excusing themselves to go the bathroom.

According to the new policy, students have three bathroom passes per week that can be used during the three specified 10-minute windows. Students may only go one at a time and those that don't use their passes get prizes at the end of the week.

When word got out of the new policy, parents were outraged, claiming that it posed a significant health risk to their children.

The Department of Education claims, however, that there is no such protocol at the school, saying that students were free to use the bathroom when they needed to go and could go with other students.

There is no such school policy, said DOE spokeswoman Marge Fein berg said in a statement. Apparently, one teacher took it upon herself to enact a limit. The principal says she has put a stop to this.

Bathroom limiting procedures have drawn sharp criticism at other schools as well. Last October, a controversy was sparked after an Illinois high school enacted a bathroom policy that required students to make up class time after school if they spent too much time going to the bathroom.

New york city