A southwest Washington school district's decision to eliminate required sexual education classes has ignited a social media frenzy with people in the Spokane area disagreeing over whether eastern Washington schools should do the same.
This week, Battle Ground School District near Vancouver announced it will no longer require its students to take sex ed classes. It will still offer them as an option.
But district leaders of Spokane and Central Valley public schools said students are still required to take sexual education classes here in the Spokane area.
Brian Coddington, spokesperson for Spokane Public Schools, said the district has no plan or consideration to change this requirement.
He said district leaders have been updating its curriculum for these classes to include recommendations from a committee of parents and staff.
This team meets monthly to make sure the info in these classes is up to date and “fitting for each grade level,” Coddington said.
“They start in kindergarten and cover topics like building interpersonal relationships and learning how to communicate effective,” he said.
By middle and high school, the students progress to more of the in-depth material sex ed classes typically cover.
Coddington said parents have the option to opt out their students out of these classes at the beginning of each year.
The Central Valley school district follows a similar model.
District spokesperson, Marla Nunberg, said the schools still require sex ed classes with the option for parents to opt out their students.
Nunberg said there have not been any recent updates to the district’s class curriculum.
The State of Washington requires all public schools to at least teach HIV and AIDS prevention classes. Individual districts decide what other material to include in those classes.