The Wyoming Department of Education shared a school choice survey on its social media last weekend, which an official said was the result of a hack. 

WDE spokeswoman Linda Finnerty said a link to the survey was posted on the department’s Twitter account by someone with malicious intent, and it has since been removed. 

She told the Wyoming Tribune Eagle its passwords have since been changed and recommends no one click on the survey, as it could lead to a virus or damage to electronics. 

“We’ve tried to investigate, and we’re still looking into it,” she said. “But at this point, we don’t have that identification.” 

Observers of the school choice survey have said it wasn’t just shared on the department’s Twitter account. There were reports it was seen on Facebook, which also came Wednesday from the Jackson Hole News&Guide. 

“The survey was promoted on the department’s Twitter and Facebook pages,” wrote reporter Evan Robinson-Johnson. “It was retweeted by the state of Wyoming and @WyoSUP, a collaborative group of school districts, colleges and education organizations.” 

Wyoming School Boards Association President Brian Farmer told the WTE he saw the survey on multiple social media platforms. 

It was brought to his attention last week by another member of the WSBA, who shared a link to the Twitter post and was concerned. He said he saw what he believes to be the same survey on the WDE’s Facebook, but didn’t compare them closely. 

In a follow-up text chain with Finnerty, she told the WTE the survey was never posted to the department’s Facebook account.

“I was very surprised,” Farmer said in response. “This sort of posting by a state agency generally gives some sort of legitimacy to the material that they’re sharing or reposting, or that they’re putting out there through their official channels. Yet, the survey itself certainly seems to be very much a promotion of a specific perspective.” 

He said it was unusual for a department that doesn’t engage in any partisan promotion. 

“I was also very disappointed in the agency that they would post something that was ... I don’t have a better term for it than propaganda,” he said. 

The “Wyoming School Choice Survey,” which was still online Friday, has no connection listed to an official agency, nor does it provide any information about who created it. 

It provides those who would participate with 12 questions about schools in the state. It asks them to grade public schools in Wyoming and their communities on a scale from A to F, or undecided, and how much background knowledge they have on charter schools. 

It moves into education-related statements and asks participants to indicate if they favor or oppose each statement. 

Some of those include whether they agree with “reducing regulations as long as accountability for student performance remains high,” and “allowing schools to make quick, effective changes to improve student achievement.” 

“I think it encouraged the respondent to present an unfavorable impression of Wyoming public schools, and suggested that charter schools or charter options are somehow always a superior option to public schools,” Farmer said. “It seemed it was a promotion for charter schools, as opposed to taking an unbiased or neutral position — or even one that was just informative.”