Ms. Claridge

Ms. Claridge was a South Park Elementary pre-school teacher. Her first appearance was in Pre-School Ms. Claridge was disabled and covered in burns after a fire broke out in the pre-school classroom at South Park Elementary. The fire was started when Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny wanted to play "fireman" and asked the "baddest kid in pre-school," Trent Boyett, to start a fire for them. In spite of the boys' efforts to extinguish the fire (by urinating on it), the fire grew out of control and nearly killed Ms. Claridge. Ms. Claridge survived, but was badly injured and placed on a modern chair which very much resembles that of Captain Christopher Pike in the original Star Trek episode "The Menagerie". She cannot speak, and can only communicate by activating the lights and beeps on her wheelchair. If it lights/beeps once it means "yes" and twice means "no." It is not clear how she can function as a teacher if she can only communicate "yes" and "no."

The boys denied all culpability for the fire and Trent Boyett was sent to Juvenile Hall for five years. One day, Ms. Claridge's wheelchair ran out of power in the middle of the road where the boys found her. Seeking to escape Trent Boyett who has been released from Juvenile Hall, they appeal to Stan's older sister Shelley for protection. Shelley agrees, but only if the boys confess to Ms. Claridge their role in the fire. As the boys start to confess to her, Trent Boyett arrives and confronts the boys. Cartman tries to stop him with his mother's taser gun but it accidentally shoots Ms. Claridge. It powers her wheelchair which spins out of control and crashes into a propane shop which blows up and sets her on fire. After crashing into a pet shop and getting attacked by cats, she hits a fire hydrant putting the flames out. The police arrive and ask if Trent started the fire. She replies "no" with two beeps but the police mistake it for "yes yes" and arrest Trent. Ms. Claridge appears briefly in one other episode, "The Death of Eric Cartman", where Cartman, in his efforts to atone for his life's misdeeds, gives her a fruit basket.