SKIATOOK, Okla. — A homework assignment from Skiatook High School is gaining traction online.
Some people are concerned that it’s not appropriate for the classroom.
FOX23 spoke with one mother and student about those concerns and Skiatook Public Schools said it does not comply with their standards.
Is God real? Skiatook parent Olivia Gray said it was questions like this that her child was asked to answer last week.
“This was a world history class and it was framed as a research paper,” Olivia said.
Olivia said the whole assignment titled “How did the world start” was alarming and not OK for multiple reasons.
“There was not really a rubric or a word count. There wasn’t a page count like anything you would normally see,” Olivia said.
She said the paper asked sophomore students a series of questions such as “How did the world start and who started it?”
“Which would imply that it wasn’t the Big Bang Theory or any other kind of scientific explanation so that I felt was a bit leaning,” Olivia said.
Another question asked, “What does it mean to be a Christian?”
“I don’t see what that has to do at all with world history,” Olivia said.
Olivia said she was confused as to why the majority of the questions were opinion-based and that frankly it was not the school’s business.
“I really feel that these are things that should be taught at home however parents choose to handle that,” Olivia said.
Annette Gray, who is a Skiatook sophomore, said the questions on the assignment were uncomfortable.
“I feel like he expected people to be Christian or whatever but like I am not Christian and there are probably other students in that class who are not Christian. They are probably not going to be comfortable answering those questions either,” Annette said.
Olivia said because her child is Native, “She has descended from several people who were forced into residential schools. I feel that this is culturally insensitive for a school that is literally sitting on the Osage Nation,” Olivia said.
FOX23 reached out to the Skiatook superintendent’s office to confirm the research questions were from that course and received this statement.
“Skiatook Public Schools became aware of the history assignment in question through a social media post. Once administration reviewed the assignment, it was determined that the presentation of the material was not conducive to our instructional plan. Administration and staff will continue to collaborate on best practices to meet the Oklahoma Academic Standards. Skiatook Public Schools encourages parents concerned about any assignment to contact the site administrator.”
FOX23 asked for confirmation on what this means for the future of the assignment. The district said students will no longer be required to complete the research paper.
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