A local lawmaker has issued an apology, saying he misspoke during a public forum when he claimed that there are schools in his Senate district that have cat litter boxes in their bathrooms for students who identify as “furries.”

During the Eggs and Issues forum at Iowa Central Community College on Saturday, Sen. Tim Kraayenbrink, R-Fort Dodge, made the claim in support of a school choice bill that is in the Iowa House.

“Not in the Fort Dodge district, but in my Senate district, they’re requiring these schools to put kitty litter boxes in the bathroom,” he said on Saturday.

At the time, he declined to identify the schools he was referring to.

On Wednesday, he released a statement apologizing for the gaffe.

“I misspoke during the forum concerning the presence of litter boxes in public school bathrooms,” Kraayenbrink told The Messenger. “What I intended to say and what I was told by a constituent was, a school board in this area was asked to place these boxes in its bathroom but declined. Both the school board and the administration handled the situation appropriately. I do not want to cause unnecessary burdens for this district by further publicizing the issue.

“I apologize for the miscommunication. I do not want my comments to distract from the incredibly important issue of school choice and empowering parents in their children’s education.”

Multiple news outlets and independent fact-checkers across the country, including the Poynter Institute’s PolitiFact, have debunked the kitty litter scenario as a hoax several times since its first appearance earlier this year.