CISD approves health curriculum and library materials standards
The Canyon Independent School District, after months upon months of discussion and review, Thursday evening adopted its health education curriculum and approved its library and text materials acquisition and removal procedures, both with only one board member dissenting.
In May, the CISD was supposed to vote to approve the health education curriculum. Still, the issue has been a contentious one within the district, with some in the community accusing much of the literature of having inappropriate language referencing LGBTQ+ issues and elements of sex education that refer to anything outside of abstinence, including birth control. There was even opposition to speaking with students about recognizing abuse and other sensitive subjects.
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To alleviate concerns, the district held multiple meetings with concerned parents and the School Health Advisory Council (SHAC), which included educators and parents, to help choose the most appropriate provider of health care information. After reviewing the curriculum, many components were made parent optional, so their children would not be exposed to education that individual parents opposed. Those who wanted their child educated in more of the curriculum were given an opt-in to receive that information.
After multiple delays of a vote to further study the proposed materials and give new board member Paul Blake time to review and get up to speed on the subject, the board took a vote, with Blake being the only "no" vote.
“I just think it leaves an opening for inappropriate material to be taught to our kids," Blake said. “I think it's too broad. I think it is a bad company that we are dealing with, and I do not trust them. They say they are going to remove some stuff, but I just do not trust them.”
Blake said that he had a specific issue with the term "pregnant person" being used in the curriculum and referred to the government as the standard of why they use those terms. He did say that he had heard that was part of the opt-in or removed language from the curriculum.
When asked if he felt there should be health education in schools, Blake felt only basic health education, minus anything sex-related, should be among items included.
“Health is one thing; sex education is another thing,” Blake said. “I think the school needs to be out of the sex education business.”
Health education and its place in schools have been under fire at many school boards, with some parents wanting nothing to do with any sex education or any mention of LGBTQIA+ in any literature.
When voting for the health curriculum, member Jennifer Winegarner proposed the board have a vote next month to eliminate health curriculum as being a requirement for graduation. With the pressure being exerted by a faction of the community, board members are considering doing away with any health education requirements due to its current contentious nature.
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During public discussion, several community members stated their opposition to the health curriculum, citing that the vendors have made educational materials they do not agree with — even if it is not part of the proposed curriculum. Some commenters went as far as to suggest faith-based alternatives in previous meetings.
Chosen for kindergarten through fifth-grade curriculum was Quaver Health Education, recommended by 88% of the SHAC, which has parental special opt-in with only Texas Educational Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) requirements to be fulfilled in class.
Goodheart-Wilcox Education was chosen for sixth through 12th grade, with 100% approval by the SHAC. Just like the other approved curriculum, it will only teach to the TEKS with parental opt-in on other areas.
Following that vote, the board approved the policy updates for acquiring and removing educational and library materials from the classroom or library. It gave the district's selection criteria for all materials and the process for parents to challenge any materials within the schools.
CISD outlined its draft procedure and formal definition of "pervasively vulgar and harmful material" for its schools as follows:
Contains content having or encouraging excessive (multiple, overtly descriptive passages or pictorial representations) interest in sexual matters.
Contains content which depicts or describes patently offensive representations or descriptions of ultimate sex acts, normal or perverted, actual or simulated.
Contains content which is patently offensive to prevailing standards in the adult community, as determined by Canyon ISD’s board of trustees, with respect to what is suitable for minors.
As a whole, is utterly without redeeming social value for minors.
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Even with these standards for its school materials, much is left to the opinion of the community and the school board, but overall, the board seemed pleased with the guidelines in place.
Board member Linda Hinders spoke about the appropriateness of removing sexually explicit books and pornography but said books would not be removed just because some in the community do not like the ideas in place in the materials.
Blake asked his fellow board members if this included deviant behavior before the vote, in which he voted against the measure.
“I do not think there should be anything done in our schools to promote the alphabet part of society to make it normal,” Blake said. “I think it's sliding in, trying to normalize that to our kids when it should not be normalized.”
When asked if there should be any books at all that mention LGBTQIA+ in libraries, Blake said there should not be any available in schools.
Following the meeting, when asked to clarify his comment on what deviant behavior he was referring to, Blake said he was referring to LGBTQIA+ and any non-heterosexual behavior.
Cameron Rosser, assistant superintendent for CISD, spoke about the school's process for standards for books in the district.
When asked to clarify the prevailing community standard aspect of the library materials, especially with some members of the community finding any LGBTQIA+ material offensive no matter what, Rosser said that in the end, the board would make those decisions on the appropriateness of materials as the community elects them.
This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Canyon Schools approve health curriculum, library materials standards
