Kokomo School Corporation officials spent this week responding to allegations it was installing litter boxes at the high school, following a satirical post on Facebook.
The site called The Kokomo Press posted Tuesday morning a screenshot of a fake email informing Kokomo High School staff about a new policy for students who identify as part animal, with the subject line “OtherKin Policy.”
Otherkin are people who identify as not entirely human. They may identify as animals or fictional or mythical characters.
The email stated litter boxes would be provided in restrooms, among additional accommodations for otherkin students, including time between classes for “free movement on all fours.”
Though the Kokomo Press is a satire site, plenty of people replied to the post believing it to be true. As of Friday afternoon, it had been shared 11,000 times.
On Wednesday, the post went national with fact-checking sites weighing in. Snopes debunked the post and USA Today Fact Check replied to the Kokomo Press saying the claims were false.
Kokomo Superintendent Mike Sargent said the ordeal was a non-issue among students who knew immediately the post wasn’t true.
“Our teachers spend a lot of time helping students verify information on the internet,” he said. “This wasn’t even a conversation at our school.”
There were multiple giveaways the email was fake.
The email associated Kokomo High School with the “Howard Consolidated School Systems INC.”
There were grammatical mistakes in the body...
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