Albany High School removes teachers Over sex assignment

Albany High School removes assignment on sexual morality after Reddit post

Two Albany High School teachers are off the job following a classroom assignment that asked students to weigh moral dilemmas including one-night stands, virginity, and sex with strangers, timesunion.com reported. Interim Principal Kandie Antonetti announced Wednesday evening that the Google Classroom link for the assignment was disabled Tuesday morning after school administrators learned it had been distributed to students.

The controversy began when a student captured screenshots of the questions and posted them to Reddit, asking whether the assignment qualified as weird. Redditors viewing the post strongly advised the student to inform their parents and escalate the matter to school administration. The student later updated the thread to confirm they had reported the quiz to their parents, prompting a moderator to remove the screenshots from the platform.

Inside the Lifespan Studies assignment

Handed out on Monday, the questionnaire comprised 28 “Would you rather …” prompts centered on moral dilemmas for a Lifespan Studies class. The course targets grades 9 through 12, with school website guidance suggesting it for ninth graders pursuing a four-year educational career sequence. A Family and Consumer Science teacher designed the activity for a substitute teacher to supervise during class.

“They have taken full responsibility, and acknowledged that they did not review the list of questions thoroughly before asking a substitute to give the assignment in their absence Monday.”

According to Antonetti, the teacher who built the assignment copied the questions directly from an external source. While Antonetti confirmed that four of the prompts dealt with sexual topics, the Times Union independently viewed two of them. Those specific questions asked teenagers to decide between losing their virginity on a one-night stand or waiting until marriage, and contrasted sexual encounters with strangers against encounters with well-known individuals.

Personnel review and district response

Both instructors involved in administering the lesson were classified as substitutes and are no longer working within the school district while the Human Resources Division examines the situation, Antonetti stated. District spokesman Ron Lesko clarified that the educator who prepared the lesson served as a long-term substitute, managing the classroom while officials actively searched for a full-time permanent teacher for the position.

Keep reading