Oklahoma School Under Fire for Toe-Licking Fundraising Event

Ok, this one is for the weird and deranged files. Here goes: students at Deer Creek School District in Oklahoma were videotaped... licking toes for the school's "Wonderful Week of Fundraising." The fundraiser was for “Not Your Average Joe Coffee,” a company that employs people with intellectual, developmental, and physical disabilities.

I’m not sure it was toe-tally fun for the kids, however.

"It was surprising," an anonymous student told Fox 25. "I didn't think they were going to do all that. I was just shocked. I didn't really have like a feeling. I was kind of disgusted, and then kind of glad I wasn't over there."
          "Whenever she told me yesterday that was happening, I had to ask her, 'Wait, what? They're licking peanut butter off of toes," an anonymous parent said. "What?"

The popular Twitter/X account Libs of TikTok had the right question: who approved this?

UNBELIEVABLE. This happened at @DCAntlers. Students sucked on the toes of adults during a school fundraising event. Who approved this??? pic.twitter.com/vNqy3LkV0r
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) March 1, 2024

The district said $152,830.38 was raised during the fundraising week, but that didn’t stop some parents from putting their feet down. After the video went viral and the district took a licking from an outraged public, they tried to tamp down the outcry with a statement saying no teachers were involved.

UPDATE: The school district @dcantlers is defending the toe sucking video claiming it was for charity. They also claim it was students sucking other students’ toes. This doesn’t make it any better. This was a school sanctioned event which was overseen and cheered on by adults.… pic.twitter.com/mTNNPSmLVd
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) March 3, 2024

They didn't really take any responsibility for the gross fiasco; instead they just focused on the money that was raised. Chaya Raichik, the owner of the Libs of TikTok account, wasn’t buying it:

This was a school sanctioned event which was overseen and cheered on by adults. It’s absolutely sick.
@RyanWaltersSupt has promised to investigate. People need to go to prison for this.

Oklahoma State Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters was also unimpressed and vowed to find out how this happened.

This is disgusting. We are cleaning up this filth in Oklahoma schools. Our agency is investigating. https://t.co/XdWGFy3Hc2
— Superintendent Ryan Walters (@RyanWaltersSupt) March 2, 2024

The toe-curling fundraiser even drew national attention:

Reactions to the incident rolled in, with Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, declaring "this is child abuse."

Walters then replied to Cruz' statement, saying "Completely agree. We are stopping this in Oklahoma."

I try not to get outraged by too many things – because in today’s world you’d go insane if you did – but if I found out one of my kids was involved in something like this, I’d be stomping my feet in anger. Presumably, it was all done with good intent, and for what sounds like a noble cause – but it’s incredible that no one at any point thought, “hey wait, is this a good idea?”

We’ll just have to wait and see if another shoe drops in this case.

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