Fort Worth ISD’s school board has begun the process of adopting a new sex education curriculum after it dropped its previous vendor and suspended sex education for the 2022-2023 school year.
The school board unanimously passed a resolution Tuesday that directed a district committee called the School Health Advisory Council to review sex education instructional materials, according to the Fort Worth Report.
The advisory council, which has more than 25 members appointed by the school board, will hold at least two public meetings to discuss course materials. A curriculum will then be recommended to the school board, which will decide whether it meets state standards.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, Fort Worth ISD purchased a $2.6 million digital-only sex education curriculum from California-based HealthSmart last year. However, the district canceled the implementation of the curriculum in January after a wave of criticism from parents who claimed that it contained inappropriate content.
Texas is one of a handful of states in the United States that require parents to opt their children into sex education lessons. ISDs in the state are not required to provide a sex education curriculum, but if they do decide to implement one, the curriculum must emphasize abstinence, according to the Sex Education Collaborative.
The state updated its standards in 2020 to require sex education curricula to provide information on contraceptives, STDs, and healthy relationships, the Beaumont Enterprise reported.
Parental concern over sexually explicit content in schools has been an animating issue in school districts all over Texas. Relatedly, the READER Act, which is set to go into effect next week, will prohibit libraries from housing sexually explicit materials. Fort Worth ISD closed its libraries earlier this month to review materials ahead of the new law’s implementation.
On Tuesday, a Fort Worth resident was removed by security from a school board meeting after he read a sexually explicit excerpt from a book he claims was being made available to students.
“On page one, ‘Who wants my hot wiener? Oh yeah, baby,’” he read from the book Flamer before security moved the mic away and removed him from the building.
Similar books stoked controversy in Dallas ISD, which saw some parents and community members organize protests against the school board for not pulling sexually explicit content from library shelves.
The book Jack of Hearts (and other parts) by Lev A.C. Rosen, in particular, was cited by concerned parents and brought to the attention of school board members.
“If it had been a movie, it would be rated X. It’s offensive and completely inappropriate for our children,” Tami Brown Rodriguez told The Dallas Express back in February.