Cumberland County High School Teacher Forces Student Participation In Invasive Woke Assessment

Image Credit: Cumberland County High School

The Tennessee Conservative [By Olivia Lupia] –

A Facebook post from a local mom in Cumberland County has sparked outrage after she revealed her daughter was forced by her high school art teacher to reveal invasive personal information like pronouns, sexual orientation, and religion for a class assignment.

The post was made in the Crossville Chatter 3.0 group and featured concerned mother Brittany Seymour sharing her daughter’s photo and texts regarding her first day of Visual Arts class at Cumberland County High School with teacher David Wilcox.

“Today was my daughter’s first day of class for the semester in Visual Arts. Her assignment? Write down your religion, your sexual orientation, etc… and proceeds to tell the class he is a “progressing” Christian, part of the LGBT community, holds protests, and is high in politics,” Seymour wrote. “Idk what this has to do with Art but I contacted the principal who didn’t seem to have much concern, yet I was able to get my daughter’s class switched. I don’t understand why a grown man needs to know my daughter’s sexual orientation and who she’s attracted to. [People] need stop pushing their political ideologies and agendas on kids. If the class is Art, focus on Art!”

A picture of the assignment and screenshot of the text thread between mother and daughter showed the students also having to disclose their gender, pronouns, nationality, ethnicity, age, and socio-economic class. 

Most comments on the post expressed indignation at the inappropriate assignment, and several commenters were fellow parents who relayed they also pulled their children from the class and are seeking ways to set meetings or speak to school officials about the issue.

“This is beyond ridiculous! My daughter is in that class as well. What does any of that have to do with art!!! I don’t want this WOKE BULL shoved down her throat!! He should be FIRED!!” one parent wrote. 

Another said she called about the same issue last semester but received no response.

Other comments included, “We hoped to get our kids away from the crap when we moved down here,” and “There is no reason an adult teacher should be asking a student what their sexual orientation is. Safe adults don’t do this.”

The story found the national spotlight when Libs of TikTok, a social media conservative watchdog, shared Seymour’s Facebook post, writing, “Your tax dollars are being spent to indoctrinate children.”

At the time of this writing, the post had nearly 275,000 views and almost 6,000 reposts.

Libs of TikTok says she reached out to the school for comment, but they declined to respond.

The Tennessee Conservative also contacted several school officials but did not receive a response in time for publication. This article will be updated if any responses are received. 

But while the district may not have been responsive to media contact, Seymour updated her original post to say she had contacted the district Board of Education (BOE), which is supposedly going to consider the matter.

“Upon speaking with the BOE, they are doing an internal investigation and decisions will be made regarding the outcome by the end of the week, hopefully, but it would take up to two weeks,” Seymour wrote.

She also encouraged concerned parents and members of the public to attend the next BOE meeting on Jan. 22 and sign up to speak, requesting the board “take appropriate action into this matter and similar matters that may arise in the future.”

There could be several legal implications to Wilcox’s assignment as numerous Tennessee laws require parents to be notified if curriculum or classroom discussion includes conversations or materials on gender identity or sexual orientation.

Another law also protects students from being compelled to use preferred pronouns for themselves or other students, which Wilcox could be violating by asking students or requesting them to use such information.

With such attention being brought to the issue it is likely the BOE will have to address the situation, though whether their actions will be sufficient to satisfy parents and community members is yet to be seen.

About the Author: Olivia Lupia is a political refugee from Colorado who now calls Tennessee home. A proud follower of Christ, she views all political happenings through a Biblical lens and aims to utilize her knowledge and experience to educate and equip others. Olivia is an outspoken conservative who has run for local office, managed campaigns, and been highly involved with state & local GOPs, state legislatures, and other grassroots organizations and movements. Olivia can be reached at olivia@tennesseeconservativenews.com.