LI 5th Grade Teacher Removed From Class Over Controversial Quiz

PLAINVIEW, NY —A fifth-grade health teacher at Howard B. Mattlin Middle School has been removed from the classroom for handing out a controversial questionnaire to students Monday, school officials confirmed to Patch Wednesday.

In the quiz, the teacher apparently asked students to choose six people with whom they'd want to shelter if a nuclear strike hit Long Island, according to a News12 report.

Among the options, of which there were 10 total, were "a police officer with multiple charges of brutality, a 38-year-old retired prostitute, and a 31-year-old homosexual architect," the outlet reported.

"On Tuesday, we learned that one of our 5th grade health class teachers handed out a deeply inappropriate assignment to students the prior day," Dr. Joseph Coladonato, Principal of Howard B. Mattlin Middle School, wrote, in part, in a statement Wednesday. "Our school, and our District as a whole, do not approve nor support assignments that are age-inappropriate, out of alignment with the curriculum, and fall outside of New York State standards. This assignment violated all of these criteria, and has no place in our classrooms. We condemn this type of material in the strongest possible terms."

The teacher, identified as Mandy Bieder, is being investigated by the district's central office, school officials said. In the meantime, Bieder has been removed from the classroom and replaced with a substitute teacher.

"Until the investigation is concluded, the teacher in question will not be returned to any classroom assignment," officials said.