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A mother of a student at Klein Oak High School in Spring, Texas, is criticizing a teacher who gave her students a questionnaire asking in part whether they have been vaccinated for COVID-19.
"I think it's not an appropriate question to ask because if she got sick, what is she planning to do, to blame the unvaccinated kids?" the mother of a freshman at the school told Fox 26 Houston on Thursday. "Is she going to stay away from all the kids that answered that question that are unvaccinated?"
The questionnaire, which the teacher handed out on the first day of school Wednesday, also asked students to share three things about themselves, and whether they attended school virtually or in-person last year, reported the local news station.
"This vaccination is political," said the mother, who declined to be identified. "To me, it seems too political. She said it was for her personal record and if she happened to get sick she had an idea of where to start."
According to the station, the teacher asked about students' vaccination status because she has cancer.
"I'm sorry she has cancer, but that doesn't give her an excuse to give the question out," said the mother, who raised her concerns in an email sent to the teacher and school administrators.
In a statement to Newsweek, the Klein Independent School District said that it isn't the district's "policy or practice" for teachers to ask students about their private vaccination information.
"This information was requested by an individual teacher in direct contradiction to this policy and practice and trainings staff received prior to the start of school regarding the confidentiality of student health information. Human Resources has addressed this matter, and the campus has contacted all parents of the students involved to apologize," the district stated.
A district spokesperson said he could not detail how human resources officials addressed the incident because it is a personnel matter.
In a similar incident in Nevada in May, a biology teacher, as part of an extra credit assignment, asked students to write a paragraph explaining whether they planned on receiving a COVID vaccination.
Some parents criticized the assignment.
"I think it crosses the line when you ask a child, someone who is under the age of 18, to report on that," Katie Bindrup, whose daughter was in the class, told Fox 5 in Las Vegas.
"All this information was behind closed doors," added David Bindrup, the student's father, "and if our daughter wasn't vocal as she is, she may have divulged important personal information."
About the writer
Xander Landen is a Newsweek weekend reporter. His focus is often U.S. politics, but he frequently covers other issues including ... Read more