Barnegat school officials have since apologized to parents and explained that it was a simple mistake of a teacher quickly downloading health worksheets online and not carefully reviewing their content.
I have the most exceptional readers in the world.
When there is wrongdoing in their hometowns, they are the first to let me know – and we’re proud to jump on those stories like a pit bull on a pork butt.
The other day Lisa Erskine, of Barnegat, New Jersey, alerted me to a bizarre story involving Islamic cleaning rituals and a second-grade class at Cecil S. Collins School.
Yes, Islamic cleaning rituals.
The Asbury Park Press reports that a second-grader came home with a health and hygiene worksheet that included references to hijabs and thawbs – clothing worn by religious Muslims.
The worksheet also included a reference from the Koran: “Allah loves those who
make themselves clean and pure.”
Journalist Amanda Oglesby first exposed this peculiar incident – interviewing parent Chris Sharpe.
“Everybody was up in arms,” he told the reporter.
So why is a public school in New Jersey teaching children about Islamic cleaning rituals?
Well, the Barnegat Township School District tells me it was all a great big mistake. A whopper of a mistake.
“This worksheet – which was neither carefully reviewed by the teacher nor approved by an administrator – contained a religious reference, in clear violation of district policy,” Supt. Karen Wood told me in a statement.
She blamed the incident on a “novice instructor” who “downloaded a worksheet from the online sharing site Pinterest and utilized it during a lesson.”
So the kids are being taught how to clean the hijabs by a novice?
“We recognize the significance of this error,” she added. “Our parents have been extremely supportive as we take measures necessary to ensure that this remains an isolated incident.”
As you might imagine, folks around Barnegat are a bit upset over what happened.