Teacher asks students to ‘identify rapist’ on homework assignment, prompting investigation

Texas schools officials say they’ve taken “corrective action” after a ninth grade teacher included a question about a rape victim in a homework assignment received

Approximately 90 students received an assignment that asked the following: “Suzy was assaulted in an alley and is a victim of rape. The police collected a sample of sperm that was left at the crime scene and now have three suspects in custody. Which of the suspects raped Suzy?”

According to school officials, a biology teacher asked freshman students to select the correct DNA sample pattern from a list of possible answers, including “Felon, S1, S2 and S3”.

A photo of the homework was posted on Facebook by a neighbour of the parent whose child is a student at Klein Collins High School in a suburb of Houston.

Parents who shared the photo called the question “appalling” and “upsetting” and questioned whether the teacher or school had permission to ask students a question involving rape.

Cookie VonHaven, a parent of a 10th-grade student at the school, told KPRC-TV that students “know that rape is forced non-consensual sex and that upsets them... That’s why I can’t fathom a teacher putting that on a test”.

In a statement, Klein Independent School District acknowledged that an “inappropriate homework question was distributed by a teacher to some ninth grade biology students” at the school.

According to the school district, the assignment is not part of its “approved curriculum and is by no means representative of the district’s instructional philosophy”.

The district said it “investigated the source of the materials” and has taken “appropriate corrective action” but did not disclose how the question appeared on classroom materials