He did not immediately respond to a request to comment for this article. Opponents said they believed the main purpose of the book was "to promote various agendas" related to the LGBTQ community in an attempt to "make it more acceptable in the mainstream. Reporting from USA Today contributed to this story. Are districts ready? The rumor is that our schools have litter boxes in the restrooms to accommodate individuals who are self-identifying as animals. Two curious stories relating to cats have been circulating online this week: In the first story, a substitute teacher claims she was fired because she refused to meow back to a student who "identifies as a cat," while parents in a Michigan school district were infuriated by a rumor that the district was providing litter boxes to cat-identified The one that identifies as a dog has to be taken outside to use the bathroom by a teacher.., she wrote, and the falcon screeches up and down the hallways., Phil Roeder, a spokesperson for Des Moines Public Schools, is aware of the swirling claims but said: We have real education issues to deal with here. Superintendent denies rumors of litter boxes in restrooms for students who identify as cats, Carroll School District Superintendent Casey Burlau denied the litter box rumors in a letter to students and parents. A local publication, The Tennessee Holler, also reported on the post (which is no longer visible on Holladays Facebook page), adding that commenters debunked his allegation: UPDATE: Doc Holladay, the Williamson County School Board @WCSedu candidate who called for a librarians arrest, perpetuates the LIE that students are given litter boxes and identifying as cats, teachers punished for not meowing to them, (Commenters fact-checked him) pic.twitter.com/EqI1TECfqR, The Tennessee Holler (@TheTNHoller) April 12, 2022. Yet it seems the rumor has reached Oregon, with recent gossip asserting Salem-Keizer Public Schools officials approved a student's request to self-identify as a cat and allowed litter boxes in the restrooms of Sprague High School. Many of these assertions claim that schools have or are in the process of having litter boxes placed in schools. News 6 reported that, much like in the U.S., Australian lawmakers picked up on another Murdoch-owned newspaper's claim that an eighth-grade private school student in Melbourne "identifies as a cat, and as long as she does her school work, the school is supporting her assumed identity": The sourcing for this claim "a source close the . This issue gains negative attention because of its outrageousness, Berlau wrote in his note to parents. All rights reserved. I heard that at least one of our schools in our town has a, in one of the unisex bathrooms, a litter box for the kids that identify as cats. Update 4/27/2022, 2:44 p.m. PST: Updated to reflect the appearance of another iteration of the students identifying as animals meme. Is the Damaged Russian Warship Moskva the Snake Island Ship. The ABS have since clarified they will not be collecting gender data, only sex, which will be limited to male, female or non-binary. Forget gender, kids now identify as cats! It started when a video of a central Michigan school board meetingwent viral in mid-January after aparent claimed a"nefarious" agendahad taken hold of public schools in her county. His note came amid a heightened scrutiny of schools across the nation, where curriculum about race is being questioned and the recommendations of certain books might lead to criminal prosecution. Thats not good. Tennessee is talking about rejecting federal education funding. He did not immediately respond to a request to comment for this article. Indeed, schools in other states have been forced to grapple with the perplexing notions. The ABS had made a recommendation that a greater number of gender descriptors to be provided in the next census. screenshots. Binary spokeswoman, Kirralie Smith, said social engineering is attempting to change the fabric of society. down the hallways., Phil Roeder, a spokesperson for Des Moines Public Schools, is aware We and our partners use data for Personalised ads and content, ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development. & Now some schools are also allowing litter School lunch goes farm-to-table for some, Floridas rejection of Black history course stirs debate, Florida says AP class teaches critical race theory. A hair-raising group of youth are apparently terrorizing a Meade County high school. TikTokiowa students identifying as cats madison badussy(@madison_bursey), Sydney Kinney(@sydkinnn), (@thelaurencurtis), caelyn quandahl(@caelynquandahl), keller_kolbi(@kolbi_keller45), Isaiah acosta(@iamnotisaiahacosta), Brut. According to an email sent by the superintendent and shared with Local 5 by a district parent, that rumor "is simply and emphatically not true." and go to school? The New York Times, USA TODAY, Politifact, Reuters and Snopes, among other publications, wrote articles confirming the claims were unfounded. After school officials in Carroll County, Iowa had to release their own statementdebunking and rebuking furry rumors in February 2022, Iowa Capital Dispatch editor Kathie Obradovich warned readers that besides being used to scare parents, these claims were reminiscent of the exact same slippery slope fearmongering that accompanied the legalization of marriage equality. He said the costumes violate the school dress code: TikTok False: The claim is. tolerant student culture for those that openly question their sexual Update 8/23/2022, 2:44 p.m. PST: Updated to reflect media outlets in Australia publishing their own versions of this claim, as well as debunking by local outlets. Loew did not immediately respond to a request to comment for this article. Copyright 2023 Hays Post - Powered byEagle Radio, Get the offical app! with here. Curriculum for African American Studies, No more nuggets? As reporter Jon Kipper of KMTV-TV noted, Bostelman later backtracked after speaking with school officials. Published: Feb. 11, 2022 at 1:39 PM PST. Not everyone supported the policy changes, with a group protesting them outside district offices in April. identities and gender preferences. A TikTok user in a video that has gone viral claimed falsely that she was fired from a school after failing to respect a student's decision to identify as a cat. Just when I thought school couldn't get any weirder, it did today.". of the swirling claims but said: We have real education issues to deal According To WILX, Midland Public Schools was accused of installing litter boxes in the restrooms for students to use. There are no litter boxes in the restrooms of the Carroll Community School District, its superintendent stressed, despite internet rumors that some schools are installing them for children who identify as cats. ", "It implies to the student that this type of behavior is completely acceptable and normal," they wrote in the complaint to Salem-Keizer. Also a PR expert, Goddard was highlighting concerns about the next census and the push to include gender categories. Berlau said Tuesday in a note to parents in the western Iowa district. The Iowa Standard has heard from a handful of parents across the state concerned about students identifying as "furries" at various schools throughout the state. In a recent interview with Norweigen radio channel NRK P3, a 20-year-old woman says she identifies as a cat. Im staying calm, but Im not happy about it, she said. An example of data being processed may be a unique identifier stored in a cookie. Litter box rumor control isnt one of them.. It also directs schools to ensure that gender-neutral, single-occupant bathrooms are accessible to anyone. Aug 26 2021. Similar "if we allow this, what's next?" Iowa State Education Association Director Mary Jane Cobb said the litter box rumors are a right-wing attempt to mock LGBTQ+ restroom equality. (For my illustrated video commentary on this, go here .) Rumors began to surface that these students were permitted to use litter boxes in bathrooms to. AllSides members can bookmark any article and read it later. The Public Schools Branch supports all students and their personal expressions, however, such conjecture is not helpful and contravenes our Safe and Caring Learning Environment Policy. Sie knnen Ihre Einstellungen jederzeit ndern. People who identify as cats using a litterbox in a hallway thats not good. The same story has popped up at a few school districts across the country, starting with Midland Public Schools in Michigan in December after a parent brought up concerns about litter boxes in restrooms at a school board meeting. Reading, writing, and paychecks. The fake memo states that litter boxes will be provided in some restrooms, and that Otherkin students will be provided 5 extra minutes between periods to allow free movement on all fours: In reality, the graphic was posted by a satirical website set up to resemble actual local announcements. CARROLL, Iowa The Carroll Community School District recently had to put an end to a rumor that it had placed litter box in bathrooms to accommodate student who identify as animals. Published: Feb. 11, 2022 at 1:39 PM PST. "Sadly, the spread of hateful disinformation targeting queer and trans folks is nothing new, and these tactics make our schools and communities less safe," they said. District officials confirmed to the Statesman Journal that the claims are categorically false. Rebecca Kleeman, a spokeswoman for Millard Public Schools, said she is unaware of any incidents involving furries or requests for litter boxes. Across the country, from New York to Iowa and Texas, the same rumor swept through districts this spring. who consider themselves cats is apparently rooted in an increasingly Carroll School District Superintendent Casey Burlau said it got so bad that he had to send a letter to students and parents on Monday. 2023 www.desmoinesregister.com. A recent story out of small-town Iowa was getting lots of twitters and titters: The Carroll school superintendent sent out an email to parents to knock down a false rumor that there were litter boxes in school bathrooms to accommodate students who "identify" as cats. Transgender is when someone identifies with a gender other than the one they were assigned at birth. Copyright 2022 KCCI via CNN Newsource. The census is for collecting accurate data that will inform public policy in areas of health, education, welfare and planning. Appeasing activists is not. "This baseless rumor is an attempt to drum up controversy in an area where there should be none all students deserve to feel safe and respected at school. (Source: KCCI), Intelligence agencies say they cant link adversaries to Havana syndrome, Cat, missing for 2 years, found nearly 1,600 miles away, police say, California board denies parole for RFK killer Sirhan Sirhan. Find this story at Iowa Capital Dispatch, which is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Its absurd, and its mean-spirited, and it is absolutely not the focus we should be having right now, Cobb said. Copyright 2022 WILX via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. The rumor is that our schools have litter boxes in the restrooms to accommodate individuals who are self-identifying as animals. This issue gains negative attention because of its outrageousness, Berlau wrote in his note to parents. "Restroom facilities are available at all district facilities in compliance with state law," she added. (@brutamerica . Tell us where we should look inside here. "Okay, okay. Axios Lies for Arkansas School Caught Teaching Critical Race Theory, California, New York, Illinois used COVID-19 relief funds to push CRT in schools, Lockdowns Forever: Philadelphia To Reimpose Mask Mandate in Citys Public Schools, 1,200 Iranian students poisoned ahead of mass protests, Maricopa County Says Tabulator Issues Did Not Disenfranchise Midterm Voters, Teacher alleges she was fired for not 'meowing' back at student who identifies as a cat, Rupert Murdoch Says Fox News Hosts Endorsed 2020 Election Fraud Claims, Nigeria's Election Results Questioned by Opposition Parties, Citing Irregularities, What Charter Schools means to Liberals & Conservatives, What Common Core means to Liberals & Conservatives. "There is, of course, absolutely no truth to this claim, in Salem or anywhere else. Her post elicited comments from a former Carroll school board president, Jen Munson, that I warned people during the election about this type of stuff and from an area resident, Tristan Hinners, who claimed that Des Moines has students who say they are a dog and a falcon. According to the U.S. Trans Survey, conducted by the National Center for Transgender Equality, a third of trans people have faced discrimination from a health care provider. Concerns related to student matters should be addressed at the school level. LGBTQ2SIA+ is the acronym used by Basic Rights Oregon and other advocacy groups to describe those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, two-spirit, intersexual, asexual and/or other varying genders and sexualities. The Nebraska Examiner further reported that both Bostelman and another state senator, Steve Halloran, had been fed rumors about student furries, prompting a quick debunking from educators: This is ridiculous, said Dr. Josh Fields, the superintendent of the Seward Public Schools. Similar `` if we allow this, what 's next? said social is... Allsides members can bookmark any article and read it later we should be having right,! County high school policy changes, with a group protesting them outside district offices in.... Of any incidents involving furries or requests for litter boxes placed in schools outrageousness. The litter box rumors are a right-wing attempt to mock LGBTQ+ restroom equality, the same rumor through... The Statesman Journal that the claims are categorically False also directs schools to ensure that gender-neutral single-occupant... Process of having litter boxes All district facilities in compliance with State law, '' she added No to. 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