SCOTTSDALE, AZ — On Wednesday, the Scottsdale Unified School District’s committee met to discuss possibly bringing back sexual education and human growth and development curriculums.
The governing school board voted unanimously to start the committee in its January 30 meeting.
Dr. Karen Benson, an associate superintendent with the district, said it paused teaching the curriculum in middle and high schools about four years ago due to the curriculum not being updated for years. They also anticipated new changes to state requirements on teaching sexual education.
“Our context includes that some of our school nurses, at our elementary schools and parents of our fifth-grade students, have inquired about again offering lessons and information on puberty and hygiene, previously offered pre-pandemic,” Benson said in the board meeting.
Sexual education is not required to be taught in Arizona schools, but it is allowed. Some parents and organizations want it to be done transparently if it is taught in schools.
“I think they will bring it back. My emphasis and my approach to all of this is let's do it in accordance with the laws and the requirements put out by the State Board of Education and by the legislature under the ARS,” said Mike Bengart, a grandparent in SUSD who is also involved with the school community.
School districts that teach it must provide a curriculum to parents to allow them to review it, and parents have to opt their child in to learn it if they so choose.
Sex ed and human growth and development are not allowed to be taught before fifth grade and need to be age-appropriate as well.
“We're looking for a reason to have a fight about things, and there's just nothing to fight about right now. If you don't want your child to attend a school-sponsored sexual education program, they don't have to attend,” said Mike Norton, an SUSD parent who is ok with schools teaching sex ed.
The committee’s meeting will be public and the agendas will be posted 24 hours before the meeting. For more information on dates and times for the meeting, click here.
Eventually, the committee will also go to the board with a recommendation, and it will ultimately be a governing board decision on if they want to adopt a curriculum to bring it back into classrooms.
