Clear skies. Low 64F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph..

Clear skies. Low 64F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph.

Clear skies. Low 64F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph..

Clear skies. Low 64F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph.

STURGIS — “It’s a social-media myth,” Meade School District Superintendent Wayne Wormstadt said of the rumor that people are requesting litter boxes be placed in local schools for students who self-identify as animals.

Yet the parent who asked about the issue at this month’s Meade School Board meeting, wanted to clarify that she opposes the concept.

“I am against litter boxes in the school district. If you think you are a cat, you do not belong in school,” said Maranda Williamson, who reached out to the Pioneer following the initial story. She said she received significant amounts of hate messages following her public address.

Williamson said she heard about the litter box issue from Meade School District teachers, parents and students.

“With the new superintendent, we wanted to know where he stood on the issue and where the board stood,” she said.

Since the initial story about the litter box issue appeared this week, Williamson said she has received hate mail. So, she wanted to clarify her position.

It all began on July 11, when Williamson appeared at the open forum portion of the Meade School Board meeting. She questioned if litter boxes would be placed in the restrooms at Sturgis Brown High School.

“I’ve heard rumor that there is a group looking to have litter boxes installed at the high school, and I want to know where the board stands on this,” Williamson said at the meeting.

At that point, Wormstadt said he would be more than happy to meet with Williamson about the issue.

Williamson said she never saw anything on social media about the litter box issue and was surprised to find out later that the rumor had surfaced in other school districts across the country.

Following the meeting on July 11, Wormstadt said: “The Meade School District does not have litter boxes, and we will not be putting litter boxes in the schools.”

So far this year, similar myths about students identifying as animals and litter boxes have made the rounds in Iowa, Michigan, and Texas, prompting the same denials from school administrators.

Despite the myth, people continue to state on social media that there are kids who identify as animals in schools in the Northern Hills referring to them as furries.

The term “furry”, in this sense, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, refers to, “a person who identifies with and enjoys dressing as an animal especially as a member of a subculture devoted to the practice.”

They are people who enjoy role playing, but do not necessarily believe they are, or self-identify as actual animals.

In fact, many school mascots, such as Black Hills State University’s Sting, the yellow jacket, could considered furries.

The debunked rumor apparently started as a gag on the satirical site, “The Kokomo press,” in which a fake email circulated to Kokomo High School staff was “leaked.” As was reported by the Kokomo Tribune in April, “The site called The Kokomo Press posted Tuesday morning a screenshot of a fake email informing Kokomo High School staff about a new policy for students who identify as part animal, with the subject line ‘OtherKin Policy.’ Otherkin are people who identify as not entirely human. They may identify as animals or fictional or mythical characters.”

Along with litter boxes, the faked email also alleged that dietary consideration would be implemented in accordance with cafeteria guidelines, extra time would be allotted between classes for students traveling on all fours, and that students requiring owners would be assigned volunteers to “leash them and help.”

Kokomo School District Superintendent Mike Sargent was quoted in the article as stating that the ordeal was a non-issue among the students who knew immediately that the post was not true.

“Our teachers spend a lot of time helping students verify information on the internet. This wasn’t even a conversation at our school,” he said. “It was something that was clearly satire from a page that says it.”

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