The part-time teacher is a farmer who raises rabbits and other livestock for food and was asked to provide a lesson on animal slaughter and processing by students in a 10th-grade biology class he taught at a high school in the Nampa School District near Boise, said district spokeswoman Allison Westfall. She declined to say if the teacher in question is facing penalties for his actions, citing confidentiality tied to personnel matters.
– A high school science lesson got a little too graphic for some students and parents in Idaho: A 10th-grade biology teacher has apologized after bringing a rabbit into class, breaking its neck, and then skinning it in front of the class, reports KTVB. The teacher didn't clear the lesson in advance with the Nampa School District near Boise, and district officials have since called it inappropriate for 10th-graders. The teacher also happens to be a farmer who raises rabbits and other animals for food, and he gave students advance warning to leave if they wished, reports Reuters. “That is not part of the biology curriculum,” a spokesperson for the district tells the Idaho Statesman. She says the teacher, who faces unspecified disciplinary action, apologized to his Columbia High School class this week after complaints started coming in. The teacher says students had asked him more than once to demonstrate how a rabbit would be butchered, and he eventually agreed. Nampa was once a mostly rural district, but its proximity to Boise has changed that in recent years, says the spokesperson. (A teacher elsewhere is in hot water over her "Wheel of Misfortune" method of discipline.)