OPS Superintendent Mark Evans says the district will continue collecting public input on proposed changes to the sex education curriculum.
More than 1,000 people showed up to a Human Growth and Development community forum Tuesday. The meeting ended early after some members of the crowd became unruly.
The updates to OPS’ sex education curriculum are in their early stages, and Evans says no decisions have been made.
“What we’ve discussed is what we’re currently using, the input that we’ve gathered from the survey, and from the last community session, and of course we’re putting together all the feedback that came from last (Tuesday) night.”
Dr. Renae Kehrberg, OPS Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment, says it’s necessary to review a curriculum that OPS began teaching 30 years ago.
Evans says OPS is rethinking how to collect input from parents and the community. He says it could mean having smaller meetings in multiple locations. Evans says a website is in the process of being set up as well.
OPS did a survey from January to March of this year on the sex education curriculum. An overwhelming majority of the 1,500 parents surveyed said they want comprehensive sex education taught in OPS schools, as well as LGBT inclusion and acceptance of all students.
OPS students can opt in or opt out of sex education classes.