The head of Oklahoma’s schools was not amused by a video in which Deer Creek school district students were shown licking the toes of other people as part of a fundraiser on Thursday.
“This is disgusting. We are cleaning up this filth in Oklahoma schools. Our agency is investigating,” State Superintendent Ryan Walters posted on X.
“The video we’ve seen from Deer Creek is shocking and disgusting. OSDE [Oklahoma State Department of Education] is investigating this incident,” his office said in a statement to Newsweek.
The X account Libs of TikTok sounded off as well, posting that adults were the recipients of the licking during the fundraiser.
There was no official verification of that claim.
Trending:
“UNBELIEVABLE. This happened at @DCAntlers. Students sucked on the toes of adults during a school fundraising event. Who approved this???” it posted.
UNBELIEVABLE. This happened at @DCAntlers. Students sucked on the toes of adults during a school fundraising event. Who approved this??? pic.twitter.com/vNqy3LkV0r
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) March 1, 2024
According to KOKH-TV, the videoed activity was part of the school’s Wonderful Week of Fundraising to support Not Your Average Joe Coffee, which hires people with intellectual, developmental and physical disabilities.
Should those responsible for this event be punished?
One parent whose name was not given shared a reaction to learning from their daughter about the event, which the parent said involved peanut butter.
“Whenever she told me yesterday that was happening, I had to ask her, ‘Wait, what? They’re licking peanut butter off of toes? What?” the parent said, according to KOKH.
“I am all for fundraising and all for really fun and silly things, but that right there just seems a little excessive.”
“It was surprising,” said a student whose name was withheld. “I didn’t think they were going to do all that. I was just shocked. I didn’t really have like a feeling. I was kind of disgusted, and then kind of glad I wasn’t over there.”
The school district released a statement regarding the fundraiser.
“This afternoon, Deer Creek High School announced a grand total of $152,830.38 raised for Not Your Average Joe Coffee, an organization created to ‘inspire our community by including students and adults with intellectual, developmental and physical disabilities,’ according to their website,” the statement said.
“On Thursday, February 29, 2024, Deer Creek High School hosted an assembly called the Clash of Classes for students who paid to attend. During this assembly, ninth through twelfth grade students volunteered to participate in various student-organized class competitions, in the spirit of raising money for NYAJ.
“All participants in the assembly were students who signed up for the game(s) they played ahead of time. No Deer Creek faculty or staff participated in any of the games during this Clash of Classes assembly,” the school said.
Just when I thought things could not get any worse in Oklahoma education news, I come back on for some Friday night doom scrolling and a school has organized a fundraiser where the kids lick and kiss the feet and toes of grownups for charity.
— Jim Gray (The former Chief) (@JimGraytweetz) March 2, 2024
But the parent was not buying it.
“It’s really great that they raised a lot of money,” the parent said, per KOKH. “I feel like maybe they could’ve done a little bit more accountability and ownership in that statement for, ‘Hey, you know, maybe we didn’t fully think this thing through here.”
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