Controversial Sex Ed Curriculum Decision Made In Westfield

WESTFIELD, NJ — In response to concerns from Westfield parents about the introduction of certain sex education curriculum standards for grades K-5, Assistant Superintendent Paul Pineiro assured the community that highly "sensitive" topics would not be taught at the lower grade levels.

At Tuesday night's Westfield Board of Education meeting, Pineiro presented an overview of the district's revised Comprehensive Health and Physical Education curriculum, which included information on parental rights and the district's opt-out policy.

For grades kindergarten through second grade, Pineiro said health education will mainly center around kindness, as well as social and emotional wellness. He said lessons about body systems and anatomy will not be taught at these grade levels.

When the school board distributed sample lesson plans to community members at a meeting in April, it included topics like teaching children — as young as second graders — how to discern between male and female body parts and genitalia.

Read more: New Sex Education Curriculum Sparks Debate Among Westfield Parents

Many of these sample lesson plans were developed by the activist group Advocates for Youth — a nonprofit organization based out of Washington, D.C. Pineiro said at Tuesday's meeting that the district will not be implementing any Advocates for Youth lesson plans.

When asked to explain why the district will not be implementing these lesson plans, Pineiro said, "It's not something that our educators felt was 'school appropriate.'"

Board member Amy Root explained that the state released these sample lesson plans initially as an example, but left it up to individual districts to decide what they would choose to implement these lessons.

“Although there may be districts around the state who may embrace the resources that were shared, that seemed a bit too much for people in our district," Root said. "We feel that there’s good intentions behind all of it, and we want to find a way to make it work for our district in a way ... that we feel is age-appropriate for the students in our district.”

Approved Resources, Organization Of Health Lessons

Pineiro also delved into the specific resources that the different grade levels would be using health lessons. For grades K-5, Pineiro said teachers will use BrainPOP to cover topics like nutrition, social and emotional learning and general safety tips.

The district also approved three books that they believe to be age and school appropriate for the K-5 grades. This includes "The Family Book," "It's Okay To Be Different" and "Be Who You Are" — all written by author Todd Park.

These books are meant to teach children about diversity and tolerance regardless of race, religion, gender expression, ethnicity, disability and socioeconomic background, Pineiro explained.

For grades 3-5, Pineiro said teachers will incorporate a lesson about body systems into a science unit. Students will learn about the 11 organ systems, which includes the reproductive system.

In addition, teachers and nurses will give a puberty lesson for 5th graders. Pineiro said this lesson has been part of the district's curriculum for many years.

"Teachers and nurses will communicate the specifics of a lesson and the resources to be used directly with parents prior to each lesson," Pineiro said. "Parents are encouraged to contact the educators if they have any questions about these lessons, and they also have the ability to opt their child out of that instruction."

At the elementary level, Pineiro explained that health and physical education lessons will be blended into traditional content areas, such as science class. Pineiro said parents will be notified in advance of any "sensitive" topics that will be taught in the classroom so that they can make a decision ahead of time whether or not to opt-out their kids.

The district does not have a specialized health class at the elementary level, so Pineiro said teachers will be the primary deliverers of the health curriculum.

In grades, 6-12, however, the district provides separate health courses — typically taught by P.E. and health teachers — that delve more into topics like drugs and alcohol, pregnancy and parenting, various health conditions and more.

Parental Rights, Opt-Out Policy

In terms of parental rights, Pineiro said the Westfield School District "acknowledges that parents are the primary sexuality educators for their child/children."

While the district encourages families to have their children participate in these health lessons, Pineiro explained that parents have the option of excluding their child from "any part of instruction in health, family life education or sex education that is in conflict with his/her conscience or sincerely held moral or religious belief."

A letter will be sent to every parent/guardian in September with instructions on how to opt out of specific curricular objectives, according to Pineiro's presentation.

Parents Respond

During the public comment section of the meeting, one parent asked if a parent decides to opt their child out of a particular lesson, where the child will go instead. In addition, since the health lessons will be blended into the school curriculum, the parent expressed concerns that the child will miss important curriculum material for that class if they are opted out.

Another community member, Gary Morris, suggested the district make "controversial" lessons an "opt-in" situation where parents would have to proactively sign off their child being present for certain lessons.

Lastly, Pineiro announced that parents can learn more about the Comprehensive Health and Physical Education curriculum during a new Spotlight on Education Webinar Series on Monday, June 20 from 7 to 8 p.m.

Pineiro and other educators will answer pre-submitted questions, as well as respond to questions following his presentation, if time permits.

People can register for the webinar at this link: https://docs.google.com/forms/...

To view the entirety of Tuesday night's school board meeting, check out the YouTube video posted on the district's channel.