A 7th grade student from Katy, Texas is asking a school district for an apology for denying her claims over an assignment about God that resulted in her being harassed in school and people telling her to kill herself.
Jordan Wooley, 12, appeared before the Katy Independent School District on Nov. 23 and told them they lied when they said "the assignment was not graded when originally it was until my principal changed it and we had to turn it in for a grade.
"You lied about saying that you found no evidence to support my statements. However if you look at the statements that many of my classmates submitted during the investigation, it directly backs up mine," Wooley said, according to a copy of her speech before the board that was posted by her mom on Facebook.
She made headlines last month when she revealed that her teacher told her to deny the existence of God.
Grade 7 students including Wooley at West Memorial Junior High School were given an activity worksheet on "Identifying Factual Claims, Commonplace Assertions, and Opinions" on the statement "There is a God" among others.
"We were asked to take a poll to say whether God is fact, opinion or a myth and she told anyone who said fact or opinion was wrong and God was only a myth," she said last month.
The students were told that the existence of God was a "commonplace assertion." When she tried to argue that God existed, she was told to prove it.
She said one of her friends who answered God was a fact was told it was wrong.
"That kid was literally graded against her faith in God in a classroom. So the kids were caught in a Catch-22" situation where they could either defend their faith, which could result in a failing grade, or deny their faith, which could give them good grades but turn into liars and hypocrites, her mom, Chantal, told KHOU.com in Texas.
The school district held an investigation and said the assignment was "unnecessary for achieving the instructional standard," but said it was misunderstood.
"However, we know and fully agree that an item included in the activity worksheet was inappropriate and wrong. For that, we sincerely apologise," said Superintendent Alton Frailey.
Wooley told the board that they lied.
"You lied about saying the word myth was never used in the classroom. However, a buzz feed video was used to start the class and the title of the video is 'Myths you probably believe about your body.' My teacher also defined the word commonplace assertion as a myth. Other parents and children have spoken out and contacted the principal as well," she told the board.
She added, "You lied about saying that there was never an argument between the students and the teacher. However, you directly contradicted that statement by saying that the teacher told us to prove it. We, the students, argued referencing things such as the Bible. One of my friends had referenced stories about people who died and went back to heaven.
"So, I'm not asking for much. All I am asking from you is the truth and an apology for not lying. I think at the least the students, the school, the public, and I deserve that," she said.
She said since the incident became public, it "went pretty big. Along with that came bullying, I was told to go kill myself, I was called words I am not allowed to say, and what hurt most of all is that I lost a few of my close friends."
"But, I'm not here to complain. However, it is because of what your actions that these things took place. You tried to cover the incident up. You tried to twist your words to where it was hard to find the truth. You tried to call me a liar without using the word liar. So, why am I here? I am here to ask for the truth. What you told everyone was not 100% true. My classmates were scared to say what really happened because of what was being said and done," she said.
