Utah school district in 'furry' controversy issues new statement promising to take all allegations of harassment 'very seriously'



The Utah school district enmeshed in a controversy surrounding student "furries" — people who identify as animals, wear animal-like apparel, and mimic animal behaviors — has now slightly changed its stance from just a few days ago. Though it denied the existence of furries as recently as Thursday, it now claims to take all allegations of "harassment in our schools" — likely including harassment from furries — "very seriously."

As Blaze News previously reported, dozens of students and their parents staged a protest against the furries last Wednesday at Mt. Nebo Middle School in Payson, Utah, about an hour south of Salt Lake City. Students reported that furries had barked at them, chewed on sticks in class, played fetch in the halls, and even bit classmates who invaded their territory or sprayed them with air freshener.

Blaze News was able to provide several exclusive photos and videos supporting at least some of the claims about a furry problem. Those photos and videos appear to show students wearing animal masks and other animal-related paraphernalia, crawling about on all fours, and even bragging about spraying people in the face with chemicals.

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Despite this evidence, which was readily available, Nebo School District repeatedly denied the existence of a problem. "There have been no incidents of biting, licking, costumes, or animal behavior at Mt. Nebo Middle School. These rumors are unfounded and are not occurring in our schools," district representative Seth Sorenson wrote to Blaze News.

The Salt Lake Tribune also published an article, more or less parroting district talking points about the furry allegations under the pretense of a fact check. "Fact check: Nebo School District responds to claims about student protest over 'furries,'" read the headline from Tribune education reporter Michael Lee on Wednesday evening, the same day as the protest. The article makes no mention of speaking with any students or parents who made furry allegations.

By Saturday, the district had sent Blaze News an amended statement that tacitly acknowledged the furry problem. Without referencing furries once by name or the disruptive behaviors in which they have allegedly engaged, the new statement denounced all instances of "any type of harassment in our schools."

The new statement from Seth Sorenson is long and discusses multiple subjects, so we will share the two paragraphs germane to the furry topic alone. Particular sentences that ostensibly reference the furries have been placed in bold:

We are again going to reiterate that we do not tolerate any type of harassment in our schools and take this very seriously. Administration had never told students that it is acceptable for any student, regardless of who they are, to be allowed to harass or injure other students. We take any and all harassment very seriously and investigate all allegations of these behaviors thoroughly. Our top priority is the safety and security of all students and creating an environment where they all feel safe and secure. Our administration would never allow any group of students to target and harass other students without intervention and consequences. We again encourage students that have experienced harassment or bullying to speak with administration so it can be addressed.
We take the education of these young 11 and 12 year old children at Mt. Nebo Middle School Very seriously. The teachers, staff and administration are all focused on creating an environment where students can learn, and foster a lifelong love of educating and improving themselves.

Blaze News reached out to the Salt Lake Tribune to see whether the outlet intended to update its reporting in light of the district's new stance on alleged harassment at Mt. Nebo Middle School. We did not receive a response from Lee, senior managing editor Sheila McCann, or executive editor Lauren Gustus.

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Utah students walk out to protest furries who allegedly scratch and bite them while school officials ignore complaints



Students from schools in the Nebo School District in Utah walked out of class on Wednesday and claimed to be protesting against "furries" who growled and bit them at school.

Videos from the protest showed dozens of children holding signs and making accusations that school officials were ignoring their complaints about the furry students.

"Furries" are people who dress up as animals, especially cats and dogs, and often behave as if they were animals.

A livestreamer named Adam Bartholomew interviewed the students outside Mt. Nebo Middle School in Payson and posted their accusations on social media. His main video on YouTube runs for an hour and 12 minutes.

"These kids are mentally ill, and they're trying to force their illness upon us," said one girl. She said the kids who dressed up were from ages 10 to 13 years old.

Other kids said the furries spray Febreze on children, sometimes in their eyes.

"They bite us. They scratch us. They bark at us," said one child.

Students said that the principal told them to be kind and nice to the furries when they complained. They carried signs that read "Don't brainwash us" and "Compelled speech is not free speech."

The children said their parents knew they were at the protest, and Bartholomew confirmed that he had been notified by a parent the night before about the protest.

One parent at the protest said that their child had recorded video of the furries interrupting school, but they were allegedly reprimanded by school officials.

A petition on change.org demanded that school officials apply their rules to all students, including the furries, and was signed by 629 people. Students at the protest called for furries to be banned from school, and others wanted them to be expelled.

A statement from Utah Parents United addressed the accusations on Facebook.

"It is harmful to children for school rules and dress codes to be centered around the marginalized. It perpetuates the victim culture that is damaging our children!" the group said. "As parents we must speak out when schools validate any disruptive, antisocial, and extreme behavior."

Blaze News reached out to the superintendent of the district and to a district email but did not receive a response by the time of publication.

In March, a middle school of the Nebo District made headlines after a teacher was documented indoctrinating students into climate change propaganda by providing insects for children to eat for class credit.

Here's part of the video of the students' complaints:

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Colorado school board denied reports that kids were hissing and barking as 'furries' in schools, but emails show it lied to smear parents

Colorado school board denied reports that kids were hissing and barking as 'furries' in schools, but emails show it lied to smear parents



A school board in Colorado is in hot water for lying about the presence of "furries" in its schools and smearing parents complaining about the disruptive behavior.

Rumors that schools in Jefferson County were accommodating students dressing up like animals by providing litter boxes were squelched by a forceful statement from the board denying the story.

"There are no litter boxes in our buildings and students are not allowed to come to school in costume," read the statement. "There are no furries or students identifying as such during the school day."

While there was no substantiation of the claim that there were litter boxes in schools, the presence of "furries" was later confirmed in emails from administrators obtained by KCNC-TV. The report said there were at least two dozen parents who contacted administrators about students in costumes and referred to them as "furries."

Even worse, emails show the false statement was crafted in order to push a political agenda.

One email from Tara Pena, chief of family school and community partnerships, asked if it would be helpful to tie the complaints about furries to "a larger, national political platform to further marginalize our transgender and lgbtq+ students."

Darlene Edwards, a parent of one student, spoke to KCNC and said the behavior from the "furry" students was disrupting the education of her son, who is on the autism spectrum. She also said she was a Democrat and was frustrated that officials tried to politicize the issue instead of solving it.

"I have a niece that is lesbian she specifically said this is not an LGBTQ group," Edwards said. "It's frustrating that it turned political rather than what's best for the kids at school."

She added in frustration: "Why are you trying to cover it up, rather than deal with it on the level it is?"

At least one school board member agreed with the sentiment.

"We can see in the emails our parents raised issues with it and I don't think we should be saying our parents are lying," said Susan Miller.

She added that enrollment in the district had dropped by 30,000 students and that most students were reading and doing math at grade levels below their own. Miller said lying about it to parents wasn't going to help administrators improve schools.

"I'm hoping we all learn from this and we can address the inconsistency and/or the communication breakdown in some way, shape or form so that our parents do believe that when they write to us… that we are responsive," she added.

KCNC asked Kimberly Eloe, executive director of communications for JeffCo Schools, to explain why the first statement on the issue accused parents of lying, but her response refused to address the question.

One school in Melbourne, Australia, reportedly allowed a student to identify as a cat and respond nonverbally in class as long as it wasn't a disruption to the other students.

Here's more about the school board smearing parents: