FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - A meeting about controversial coursework in Broward County schools led to a harsh lesson in the law for one of the speakers.
Sex education at Broward schools became a heated topic at Tuesday night’s board meeting.
The discussion led to a public disruption, which ended with the arrest of a district volunteer.
According to Broward County Schools Police, Debbie Espinoza got into an exchange with another attendee and then pushed a police officer.
She appeared in bond court Wednesday morning and was later released.
At the board meeting, parents and others looked into the revised sex ed curriculum. Some addressed board members directly.
“Those statistics go up, new cases of HIV and AIDS go up, if we are not educating our children about what it means to engage in sexual intercourse in science-based ways,” said a speaker.
“You start to teach our children, ‘Mostly girls have vulvas, and mostly boys have penises.’ Well, that’s not true,” said another speaker.
The curriculum encompasses hundreds of pages covering a myriad of topics, from healthy habits and basic anatomy for elementary school students and reproduction and sex for middle and high school students.
“This topic has been very controversial, because this school board, just a couple a months ago, couldn’t even define what a woman is,” said a speaker.
“We owe all of our children intellectual honesty, accurate information and knowledge and a knowledge base that will enable them to make informed decisions about their health,” said another speaker.
After several years with one curriculum in place, the district eliminated sex-ed altogether for the 2022-23 school year. Now, with revisions to comply with the Parental Rights in Education law, known by critics as the “Don’t Say Gay” law, the board passed this new plan.
Some of the dozens lessons of include:
- For elementary school students, boundaries/seeking help, basic anatomy and gender roles in terms of what’s expected of boys and girls in society.
- For middle schoolers, changes in adolescence, reproductive systems and gender stereotypes.
- For high schoolers, dating, gender identity, pregnancy prevention, consent and sexually transmitted diseases.
The curriculum passed 5-4 but heads to the state for approval.
“We’ve got to offer this, it’s been a year, and we’ll progress as the state requires us,” said Broward County Schools Superintendent Dr. Peter Licata.
And another big change: the pre-arrest diversion program for students, known as PROMISE, is no more, at least on the official books.
“There’s a lot of historical, I don’t want to say baggage, but there’s a lot of history behind this program,” said Licata.
The program diverts students who commit minor misdemeanors from the court system. It drew fire when it was discovered Parkland shooter Nikolas Cruz also participated in the program, although he never finished.
Licata said children in the program won’t be abandoned, although not everyone is not convinced.
“Changes in services are not happening. We’re going to offer the same services, and we’re actually going to to look at doing more pro activity,” said.
“You’ll see suspensions, expulsions, and all in many cases on one incident,” said NAACP spokesperson Marsha Ellison.
Licata said the district will be working on an alternative to the PROMISE program, but the services will remain.
If you’re interested in reading the sex-ed curriculum, click here.
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