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A meeting discussing changes to the Sheboygan Area School District’s Middle School Health and Human Development curriculum became emotional on Tuesday night as the public…and school board members…spent more than two hours questioning and opining upon three changes to the 7-10 day unit in health classes.
Public comment on the issue ran the gamut of opinions, from those opposed to vaccines which were being added as a way to prevent HPV and Hepatitis-B; from those concerned about policy changes referring to IUD’s as a birth control method “you don’t even have to think about” and which can have serious side effects; and from both supporters and detractors of the LGBTQ community.
That comment period had to be suspended at 7 p.m. for a scheduled public hearing on the annual budget…a story that would have been its own headline save for the interest in the curriculum discussion. But before that could begin, one attendee had to be removed by direction of Board Chair Mary Lynn Donohue for refusing to lower a sign voicing protest. The budget did, by the way, pass, allowing for resumption of the public comment period.
When comments resumed and were subsequently completed, it was the full board’s turn to dissect the three addendums that would update the curriculum last passed in 2007. Addendum One adds vaccinations as a preventative measure to HPV and Hep-B, diseases that are now mentioned, but whose prevention currently isn’t included. That measure passed.
Addendum Two dealt with language describing the health benefits/risks, and effective rates of various forms of contraception including abstinence and condoms. Modifications would add IUD’s as a viable method. However, problems with language in that measure along with disagreements over what is age-appropriate sent that measure back for more work.
Addendum Three, which generated the most comment, adds definitions such as Transsexual, to those describing differentiating the sexes, orientations and identities in 2007, which covers a much more limited scope than is currently discussed among those children in grades 6-8.
That last item prompted an emotional address from Board member Ryan Burg, who used the opportunity to reveal that one of his children is transsexual, and vividly described how not being allowed to discuss such issues – or claiming that transsexuals result primarily from broken families as some attendees opined earlier in the evening – effectively tells those individuals that they’re somehow faulty or wrong, and renders them invisible and diminished. After his emotional address, Burg excused himself and, as if to quickly break the silence, discussion was promptly resumed almost before Burg cleared the doorway.
Despite lingering concerns – which the Health and Human Development Committee assured could be eventually addressed, Addendum Three was passed.
All changes are part of a process that seeks to implement a new Health and Human Development Curriculum beginning with the 2023-24 school year.
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