Florida school board intends to create own sex education and reproductive health curriculum

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Duval County Public School Board has made the decision to “start from scratch” in developing a curriculum for the students of Duval County Public Schools on sex education and reproductive health.

“It has become abundantly clear to me that our internal team can create lessons and materials that serve students’ educational needs and meet our requirements under the law,” said Superintendent Dr. Diana Greene.

She said that the internal team of health educators is able to build a curriculum that complies with new state rules, which is something that she claims the textbooks that are now recognized by the state do not accomplish.

“Starting from scratch and adhering to the boundaries of Florida Statute will be a far easier task than trying modify or find existing publisher materials that may or may not meet Florida’s standards,” she said.

The board decided not to go through with a plan that would have included content from other sources.

In spite of the fact that the discussion had been removed from the program for Monday night, they heard from over fifty different parents.

“I want the focus of children’s education to academics. Reading, writing, arithmetic, science and history and nothing more,” said one mother.

“We need to be able to make sure that it is inclusive so that it is appropriate, age-appropriate, and that we are absolutely allowing the review and the contribution from the community,” said another woman.

The school board vote will take place twenty days after the district’s lessons have been made accessible to parents. During this period, there will also be an opportunity for the public to voice their opinions.

According to a representative for the school system, while no precise deadline has been established, efforts will be made to ensure that children enrolled in health courses during the current academic year get the education that is legally required of them.