Massachusetts parents ‘livid’ after schools give survey on sexual activity, gender identity to students who opted out

Local parents who opted their kids out of a novice survey about sexual activity and gender activity are livid after the district still gave the survey to them Burlington parents have now filed complaints with the U S Department of Guidance in the wake of survey-gate claiming the district violated the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment by giving the questionnaire to students against their parents wishes The controversial survey last month that was given to both middle and high school students in Burlington Residents Schools had questions about sexual intercourse sexual orientation gender identity sexting experiences with sexual assault alcohol use and more Sexual intercourse includes vaginal sex which is when a penis goes inside of a vagina oral sex which is contact between the mouth and genitals anal sex which is when the penis goes inside an anus butt and use of toys or props vaginal or anal Have you ever had sexual intercourse reads one of the survey questions to the middle and high schoolers Students whose parents had opted them out of the Youth Menace Behavior Survey were still required to take the survey leading to outraged parents filing complaints with the feds Rightfully parents were livid Jessica Richardson of the Massachusetts Family Institute wrote about the situation Not only were these graphic and leading questions wildly inappropriate for students as young as th grade but the blatant disregard for parental opt-out requests was a serious violation of trust and parental rights The Massachusetts Liberty Legal Center submitted the complaints to the Department of Guidance s Trainee Privacy Initiative Office on behalf of parents whose children were forced to take the survey after their opt-out requests Parent David Hanafin is one of those parents He wrote an email to district executives after his middle-school child was required to take the survey even though he had opted out Asking an -year-old kid questions about anal or oral sex is disgusting Hanafin wrote There is no benefit to this I was assured that my kids were opted out of these exercises for good His kid felt sick to his stomach when he was required to take the survey he added Why are you exposing him to this Hanafin appealed in the email Also the Massachusetts Liberty Legal Center wrote a letter to the Burlington superintendent and school committee this week calling for changes to prevent this in the future This egregious violation of parental and pupil rights transgressed federal law wrote Sam Whiting of the Massachusetts Liberty Legal Center On behalf of these parents we demand that BPS hold accountable those responsible for this violation and take measures to ensure that this never happens again The Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment gives parents a chance to opt their children out of participating in surveys The school district has clearly violated this federal law revealed Whiting who gave a list of demands to the district Ensure accountability for those responsible for this circumstance up to and including terminating them from their employment Whiting wrote Revise BPS policies to prevent inappropriate and intrusive surveys from being administered to students which cover sensitive topics such as sexual behavior drug and alcohol use sexual orientation and gender identity family problems antisocial or incriminating behavior etc as listed in the PPRA he added The district should require all staff and administrators to undergo PPRA training Whiting noted BPS can take the first initiatives to reforming its educational heritage and respecting parental rights by complying with the demands above he wrote In doing so it will avoid further jeopardizing its federal funding and will ensure the success of its attendee body We sincerely hope that this will be the start of a productive dialogue between the BPS administration and parents who feel that their concerns have thus far been ignored We look forward to BPS taking swift action to correct this situation Related Articles Massachusetts -year-old genderqueer scholar scenario Lawyers for parents to appeal egregiously wrong ruling to Supreme Court State tuition board advances MCAS-replacement coursework standard Massachusetts parents of -year-old genderqueer attendee who changed name at school lose federal appeals lawsuit Critics say new lottery admission proposal for vocational schools would exclude up to of various cities students Massachusetts Gov Maura Healey pushes back on Trump administration order to end DEI in schools The district is in the process of responding to the Department of Development complaints according to the Burlington superintendent The school committee has voted to stop all attendee surveys until the committee develops a more comprehensive framework on their purpose and if approved on their implementation Superintendent Eric Conti revealed in a declaration This work is ongoing