COLLINSVILLE — A special-education teacher has been removed from the classroom after allegedly forcing students to remove their underwear.

According to a letter sent to parents earlier this week, the teacher observed feces on the classroom floor at Webster Elementary School on March 30.

To determine which student had soiled his pants, the teacher had each child go into a private bathroom stall by himself, remove his underpants, put his clothes back on and exit the stall to show his underpants to the teacher.

“”The teacher was not present in the bathroom stall and at no time was your child exposed to the teacher,”” the letter read.

According to the letter, which was obtained by the News-Democrat via a Freedom of Information Act request, the teacher was trying to figure out which child had soiled himself so he could be sent to the nurse.

Superintendent Dennis Craft confirmed the incident and said the school board voted Monday not to renew the teacher’s contract.

“”The teacher is no longer in the classroom and will not be in any classroom for the remainder of the year, and he will not return next year,”” Craft said.

The teacher, who was not identified by the district, has not been charged with a crime.

There were about seven children in the classroom, all special-education students in third or fourth grade.