No, really, are you SERIOUS?

I am a relatively obedient person when it comes to laws, rules and regulations. We got a memo at work saying that we need to keep children supervised at all times. Ok, that is a given. What I was not aware of (and apparently neither was anyone else around me) was that we need to keep them in sight at all times...this includes the bathroom. Now the usual way that I take my class of 4 year olds to the bathroom is this...we go to the restroom area. I scope out the bathrooms (peeking in boys room then girls) just to make sure no "Bad" adults are in there. Then I stand in the hallway where I can see the entrance to both bathrooms and I send the little tikes in 3 at a time. I am supervising the ones that are on the outside, while keeping an ear out for any mischief in the bathrooms. There are no other doors in the bathroom and I am certain there are no magical portals either! So when we get a memo saying we must go into the bathroom in order to have the children in sight at all times, we (yes, all the teachers feel the same) start to grumble. Some in fact are mortified that we have to stand in the boys bathroom and watch the little boys as they are peeing into the urinal! Not our idea of giving these little guys privacy to do their "business". Our view is that if no harm can come to them, we are supervising in a way that should be appropriate. This is an interpretation of a rule set out by the Department of Social Services. There was a meeting (all I can really say) of the muckity mucks and it was brought up as a point in this meeting. So the interpretation is not a mistake on the part of the Social Services person that came out. What I would like to know is why. Why is it so neccessary to watch the children in the bathroom? They never gave a reason and I don't know why no one asked. The teachers all asked but got no answer. Because there was none. So now we have to have an additional person to split up the boys and the girls and they have to remain in the bathroom after finishing and washing their hands so that we can keep an eye on them and the little ones going potty. It is hard enough to get the kids in and out of the bathroom, now we are forcing them to wait IN the bathroom (near sinks, and paper towel dispensers), until everyone is done. We don't have an extra person that just stays at the restroom the whole time and there isn't a plan to get someone either. So before one of the kids can go to the bathroom, we have to call someone on the radio to come so we can have this child go to the bathroom. Of course there are times when we have to wait for someone. My question is this...what is worse, sending a child into a bathroom alone, or having them pee their pants in front of their friends? Comments welcome.