The Maypearl Independent School District is changing its curriculum for an outdoor education class after video surfaced showing a junior high student killing a rabbit for a class assignment.
The Maypearl Junior High School class is focused on survival and life skills.
"Our parents were given information prior to even signing up for the class and asking to be a part of it," said Maypearl ISD Superintendent Richie Bowling. "And my understanding of that is it lists every bit of that out, as far as dispatching animals, harvesting animals, and all the processes that go along with that."
Bowling explained Maypearl as an agricultural community, with many students and parents who grew up hunting and fishing or with an agricultural background.
"And then we have a lot of folks that work in the Dallas-Fort Worth area that drive in and live here as well. So kind of a bedroom community," Bowling said.
He said the outdoor education class is a popular elective for students.
"Usually we have a list full of kids wanting to get into the class, but we limit it," Bowling said.
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The junior high elective teaches kids how to take care of fish, grow vegetables and raise animals, among other things.
"And that also involves dispatching and harvesting of animals, cleaning of animals and the proper cooking techniques of the animals, and those kinds of things," Bowling said.
After video surfaced showing the rabbit being killed, Bowling said a few parents raised concerns about how the animal was killed and if it was done humanely. Now, no more animals will be killed in that class.
