MIAMI (WSVN) - Miami-Dade County’s school board members are holding a special session to discuss the controversy surrounding schools’ sex education curriculum.
The meeting comes after a group of parents voiced concerns about how their children will be taught sex education.
Both parents and members of the community came together Thursday to voice their opinions on teaching students from middle school to high school about sex.
Back on July 20, things became heated at a meeting when the M-DCPS board voted against adopting previously approved age-appropriate sex education books for middle and high school classrooms.
The books “Comprehensive Health Skills for High School” and “Comprehensive Health Skills for Middle School” were recommended by both board staff and an independent hearing officer.
The school board initially approved textbooks back in April. However, some claim they contain inappropriate material.
“After a thorough review of the content within these books, we found that significant portions of the material may violate Florida state law,” said Alex Serrano of County Citizens Defending Freedom Miami.
There were also others who disagreed.
“The information in those textbooks will reduce violence, health issues and teen pregnancy in our community,” one woman said.
Those against part of the sex education books said middle schoolers should not be learning about things such as abortion or emergency contraception. They also said high school minors can talk to doctors without parents in the room.
“An 11-year-old being told where to obtain and how easy it is to obtain Plan B pills, in our assessment, is not age appropriate,” Serrano said.
A newly formed group of parents, Parents for Children Miami, has gathered 1,500 signatures as a petition to save sex education in Miami-Dade schools.
“Kids are gonna get this information from their teachers or they’re gonna get it from the internet,” said parent Marika Lynch.
Florida law requires sex education to be taught in schools. Since there is no curriculum in place for middle and high schools in the Miami-Dade public school system, that means the district is out of compliance.
The special meeting is being held in an effort to sort out the textbook issue ahead of the new school year, which starts Aug. 17.
The board meeting began at noon, Thursday.
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