MIAMI (WSVN) - There’s textbook turmoil at Miami-Dade County Schools, as a heated debate over several sex education books has some parents divided.
School board members, parents and even doctors came to the Miami-Dade School Board meeting Wednesday evening to make their voices heard about two health textbooks for middle and high school students, which some said teach inappropriate material.
The meeting even got a bit heated as one woman was asked to leave, and moments later, a man was forcibly removed and arrested.
The school board adopted the textbooks in April, but the decision was appealed by parents and groups like the County Citizens Defending Freedom, who highlighted the portions they have issues with.
After public hearings, a hearing officer advised the school board that they should go ahead and adopt the textbooks anyways.
However, the school board decided to abandon the idea of moving forward with the books after hearing from parents once again.
“I believe in the process, the process was done, and it was fully vetted by professionals,” said Lucia Baez-Geller, school board member.
“I voted against it because I don’t feel it is age-appropriate,” said Maria Teresa Rojas, school board member. “There is a portion of the book that is good, but there are portions of the book that should not be there for our students.”
Rojas and others said middle schoolers shouldn’t learn about abortion or emergency contraception and had issue with teaching high schoolers that minors can talk to doctors without parents in the room.
Alex Serrano is the Miami director of County Citizens Defending Freedom. He’s a father of three, who pulled his kids out of public school two years ago.
“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,” said Serrano.
Although others, like Marika Lynch, a Miami-Dade schools mother of three believes sex ed is necessary.
“Kids of all ages need to know what their options are because, as I mentioned, half of kids are going to have sex before they graduate high school, so they need to be prepared,” said Lynch. “Truth is, kids are going to get this information from their teachers, or they’re going to get it from the internet.”
Those who objected to these excerpts in the textbook said they wish there was more parental involvement in this process.
The schools are required by the state to teach sexual education, and the school district will be out of compliance for the second year in a row if they do not have a book to teach from.
The school board members will now have to find new textbooks, and students will need to find new courses to enroll in.
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