The course was dropped as a result of numerous locals and parents speaking out against the 2014-established curriculum at a school board meeting on January 24.
After the superintendent informed parents that she is abandoning plans to adopt a contentious curriculum that the district appears to have purchased last year for nearly $2.6 million, Fort Worth ISD students will not be required to take sex education this academic year.
The announcement was made by the superintendent, Angélica Ramsey, after her weekly newsletter on January 27. She informed the parents that the district is resuming the adoption of its curricula. Administrators had been preparing to re-use HealthSmart's educational resources for close to a year.
The Fort Worth ISD school board gave its approval in April to a nearly $2.6 million purchase of new instructional materials from HealthSmart that are available only digitally. The purchase was not brought up by trustees. The acquisition was covered by the consent agenda, a list of routine items that can be approved in a single motion.
By the time of publication, district spokesperson Claudia Garibay had not responded to a dozen inquiries from the Fort Worth Report.
"There isn't a human sexuality curriculum that has been approved, adopted, or suggested for the 2022–2023 school year. In a letter to parents, Ramsey explained that the delay would prevent the sexual education unit from being taught during the 2022–23 academic year.
The district anticipated that students whose parents had permitted them to enroll in sex education would do so later in the spring semester. The deadline for consent forms was February 28.
Ramsey said that the School Health Advisory Council, a committee of 26 members appointed by the school board to review sex education, will likely look at various options for Fort Worth ISD's upcoming curriculum.
Ramsey's declaration follows a school board meeting on January 24 where numerous locals and parents expressed their disapproval of the HealthSmart curriculum, which the district has been utilizing since 2014. For the proposed curriculum, the Report submitted an open records request.
HealthSmart's educational materials for all grade levels were purchased by Fort Worth ISD. According to HealthSmart, lessons on sexual education are taught in middle school and high school.
The Texas Education Agency informed the Report that decisions regarding sex education curricula must be made by school board members by state law.
The superintendent was given a predicament
Pat Hardy, a member of the state board of education, wants Fort Worth ISD to be successful. She told the Report that while she observed the district's attempt to implement HealthSmart, she did not observe administrators acting transparently or collaborating with parents sufficiently to allow them to make an informed choice.
In a recent opinion piece, Hardy, a Republican who represents west Tarrant County, criticized Fort Worth ISD for adopting a sex education curriculum. According to Hardy, Fort Worth ISD only needed to follow the procedure outlined in state law.
Hardy attributed Fort Worth ISD's sex education problems to the district's former administration. Since the end of September, Ramsey has served as superintendent in Kent Scribner's place.
Hardy stated that "the superintendent inherited a situation that was present before her arrival."
Hardy commended Ramsey for informing parents of her goals for improving the next sex education curriculum for Fort Worth ISD and abiding by the law.
Hardy said, "My hat's off to her.
What has occurred thus far
In 2020, new curriculum requirements for sex education were released. Fort Worth ISD is unable to teach sex education without materials that are state-aligned.
The teaching of sex education is not required in Texas school districts. Parents must permit their children to enroll in the course in districts that choose to do so.
The State Board of Education advised school districts to use Goodheart-middle Wilcox's school sex education curriculum. The state board did not impose a requirement, though.
The review of the sex education curriculum by the School Health Advisory Council was halted by the school board at the beginning of January.
A December resolution ordering the council to formally convene and hold two public meetings before making a curriculum recommendation was also revoked by trustees at that same meeting. The resolution's agenda item had the incorrect title when the trustees approved it in December. "Approve resolution regarding implementation and enforcement of school safety measures" was the statement. District officials attributed the error to a clerical mistake.
Since September, the School Health Advisory Council has worked to recommend HealthSmart to the school board. According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Garibay described that work as "informational."
There were two public gatherings on September 6 and 7. On January 26, there were no agendas or minutes posted for those meetings. According to the meeting minutes, the School Health Advisory Council decided on October 12 to recommend the proposed sex education curriculum to the school board.
According to school board records, trustees did not take into account a resolution calling for the formation of the School Health Advisory Council to launch the sex education review procedure. According to board policy, the resolution is the first step in adopting a new curriculum.
On November 5, a different meeting was held, and 15 new council members who had been appointed in October took part for the first time. The curriculum was again approved by the council, and the meeting's minutes were not posted on the district website.
According to TEA officials, no complaints regarding the sex education curriculum used by Fort Worth ISD have been made.
Hardy has been hearing about Fort Worth ISD from her constituents for the past few months. She claimed that the majority of remarks center on one thing that the district ought to be doing: being transparent.
They're sick of things not being brought to the fore, according to Hardy. They merely demand sincerity from Fort Worth ISD.
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