Cupertino Union to test out new sex ed curriculum
CUPERTINO >> A new sexual health curriculum will be tested next spring for seventhand eighth-grade students in the Cupertino Union School District.
The move comes a few months after the school board, in a 2-2 vote, failed to adopt sex education curriculum that conforms to new state standards. Parents in March told school officials the proposed curriculum was “too graphic” and “not age-appropriate,” while others suggested it did not align with their cultural values, and some complained that it explicitly described different types of sex.
On June 13 the school board chose to move forward with selecting “Positive Prevention Plus” as a pilot curriculum after hearing from more than 10 public speakers, most of who were in favor of adopting a new curriculum as soon as possible.
According to a presentation by interim superintendent Stacy McAfee, in July or August the district will hire a consultant to “provide education training to parents and staff.” Between August and October, parents will receive information about the new curriculum and have several opportunities to review it.
From September to November, seventh- and eighth-grade science teachers, counselors and nurses will receive training on the new curriculum, and in November the board will receive an update on training and education workshops.
The curriculum will be taught to students in February and March. Following 1012 days of sexual health instruction, the district will assess the curriculum and collect feedback from parents and educators then give a recommendation to the board on whether to adopt the new curriculum or create a new task force to select something else.
According to Jeff Bowman, chief information officer with the district, parents will have three options with the pilot curriculum: opt in for a full 10 to 12 days of sexual health education, completely opt out of the curriculum, or partially opt out.
“I think there’s an additional avenue for families that are wanting human growth and development curriculum, but if there’s a part that they aren’t comfortable with their child receiving at this time or this age, then they can opt out of that part of the curriculum,” Bowman told this newspaper.
But according to McAfee’s presentation at the board meeting, there is always a chance that other students may ask questions in class related to information a student opted out of, and some lessons at the beginning of the curriculum may be difficult to opt students out of because they are building blocks for the remainder of the curriculum.
According to the sexual health education document on
“I think there’s an additional avenue for families that are wanting human growth and development curriculum, but if there’s a part that they aren’t comfortable with their child receiving at this time or this age, then they can opt out of that part of the curriculum.” — Jeff Bowman, chief information officer with Cupertino Union School District
Positive Prevention Plus’ website, topics covered by the curriculum include sexual development, relationship abuse, pregnancy, HIV and AIDS, sexually transmitted infections and media and peer pressure, among other topics. There is also an appendix section of the curriculum which is titled “Resources for LGBT Youth and Gender Equality.”
The pilot curriculum is the district’s solution to being out of compliance with the California Healthy Youth Act, which was signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown in October 2015 and took effect in January 2016. The law requires school districts to ensure that all students in grades 7-12 “receive comprehensive sexual health education and HIV prevention education,” according to the text of the law.
The district attempted to approve a curriculum titled “Teen Talk” in March, but failed due to outcry from parents and the board’s split vote. Parents created a Change.org petition that gathered more than 4,400 signatures opposing the curriculum.
Bowman said that in the time between the March 28 meeting when the “Teen Talk” curriculum failed to pass and Tuesday’s meeting, the district met individually with parents, students, educators and members of ACT4CUSD to make sure questions and concerns about the adoption of a new curriculum were addressed and taken into account when selecting a new potential curriculum.
ACT4CUSD describes itself as a “grassroots effort to empower and mobilize local community to achieve inclusive and comprehensive sex education curriculum in the Cupertino Union School District.”
Sophie Ye, a Stanford graduate and district alumna, spoke as a member of the group.
“As a young adult, I cannot overstate the importance of comprehensive, inclusive sex ed,” she said. “Speaking as a young, queer Chinese American woman in particular, I wish I had more inclusive and comprehensive sex ed when I was in school. In this case here, we’re really talking about knowledge as a source of empowerment and wisdom. Only with enough knowledge can young people make the most informed decisions for themselves.”
District parent Sri Sarma asked the board how the curriculum will be taught, how the board and teachers will ensure that inappropriate content does not “slip in,” and how feedback will be gathered after the curriculum is taught.
Board president Anjali Kausar and board members Soma McCandless and Phyllis Vogel showed support for the pilot curriculum while Liang Chao had some reservations about the timeline but eventually expressed her support for the plan as well. Board member Kristen Lyn was absent.