New Sex Education Curriculum Sparks Debate Among Westfield Parents

WESTFIELD, NJ — Revisions made to the state's sex education curriculum has caused uproar within many local communities, and Westfield is no exception.

At last week's Westfield Board of Education meeting, the board distributed a sample lesson plan to parents, which outlined ways to teach students about gender identity, the "circle of life" and identifying male and female genitalia, among other topics.

One of the lessons plans entitled "Understanding Our Bodies," for instance, details teaching children — as young as second graders — how to discern between male and female body parts.

"There are some body parts that mostly just girls have and some parts that mostly just boys have," the lesson states. "These body parts, which are usually covered by clothing or a bathing suit, are sometimes called private parts or genitals and today we want to make sure everyone knows the correct names for these parts and who has what body part.”

At the past several board meetings, parents have spoken out about this updated curriculum, voicing concerns over teaching children about sensitive topics without parental discretion.

In response to outrage throughout the state, Gov. Phil Murphy has directed the Department of Education to take another look at its updated curriculum, which would be implemented in the 2022 to 2023 school year.

Read more: Murphy Orders Review Of Controversial Sex Education Standards

At the Board of Education meeting on Feb. 22, Westfield mother Emily Barker highlighted a number lesson plans that she felt included "questionable topics and themes" for children.

In particular, she highlighted lesson plans surrounding gender roles and stereotypes for first graders, identifying male and female genitalia in second grade and discussing topics like "puberty blocking medication" in the fifth grade.

"My purpose in pointing this is all out is not say that they are inappropriate topics to be discussed with children," Barker said. "My point is that these are sensitive topics that should be left for the parents to decide when their children are mature enough to handle the teaching of these topics in detail, especially at the elementary school level."

"This is not the job of the schools, and it never should be. It is our children ... the parents of our children should decide," she added.

Murphy stated that New Jersey law will provide parents with the option to opt their children "out of any health lesson that they would rather discuss in the privacy of their own home."

At another school board meeting in March, Board of Education member Kristen Sonnek-Schmelz explained that the process of adopting new curriculum for sex education in the district involves several steps.

Sonnek-Schmelz said the district first needs to update the curriculum to align with state requirements, and establish "the need" to make any changes. Then, she said the district needs to look at Westfield's current curriculum and look for any gaps, as well as compare their curriculum to other schools in the area.

Following these steps, she said a committee of several teachers and administrators will come together to make revisions, and these recommendations will be presented to the Board of Education and central administrators. Finally, the curriculum will go to the full board for review.

"We do not take curriculum revision and design lightly," Sonnek-Schmelz said. "We are thorough, and we welcome your feedback throughout the process."

More recently, at last week's board meeting, Westfield parent Jill Vogel mentioned how a specials teacher, for either art of music, reportedly spoke to elementary students "off the cuff" about topics related to sex education several weeks ago. Vogel said she had reached out to her school's principal who said she had not heard about it.

"These are little kids, and these are our little kids, and they don't deserve to be targeted by adults who are speaking out of line," Vogel said. "If this was my child that this had happened to, I'd be standing up here with my lawyer."

The sample lesson plans that the district released can be found here, and more details about the various sex education topics can be found on the New Jersey Department of Education's website.

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