Sex education will return to Fort Worth ISD health classes this year after the district approved the student health advisory council’s recommendation for the abstinence-based Choosing the Best curriculum. During the February 27th Board meeting, all eight present board members unanimously voted to reinstate sex education at sixth grade and high school levels.

The decision to reinstate sex education came after Superintendent Dr. Ramsey postponed instruction last year after a series of delays and complications with the student health advisory council’s (SHAC) reviewing process and concerns over the content of the purchased curriculum, HealthSmart.

“Waiting another year to review more curriculums would mean another year without this important instruction, and I definitely do not support further delays to review additional curriculums,” said Board Secretary Anael Luebanos. 

This year, the district said they followed the recommendation procedures required by Texas law and convened the 21-member SHAC to review curriculum options. SHAC’s review process culminated in late January with the decision to recommend Choosing the Best as the district’s opt-in sex-ed course. 

In the meetings leading up to the recommendation vote, SHAC members often disagreed over what material is age-appropriate for middle and high school students and the importance of including non-abstinence methods to prevent pregnancy and avoid STIs. 

According to one SHAC member’s experience, the council’s review was indicative of the group’s religious beliefs regarding pre-marital sex instead of an objective assessment of the curriculum options. 

“There were differing opinions among the SHAC members, but the overwhelming majority of the members share a set of religious beliefs, and that ultimately led to the selection of Choosing the Best,” said an anonymous current SHAC member. 

Last Month’s board meeting reflected the SHAC and community’s conflicting views over teaching a strictly abstinence-centered curriculum. The meeting was well-attended by vocal supporters of Choosing the Best from conservative Christian group For Liberty & Justice as well as young opponents of the Choosing the Best curriculum from Arlington Heights High School. 

Nearly 50 attendees spoke during public comment, one of which was Arlington Heights Junior, Emma Barberena who told the Pantherette “Choosing the Best is outdated, has shameful undertones and is an abstinence-only curriculum. Teens need to be informed of their bodily functions, not Mercy Culture Church’s ideals.”

Many of the speeches against Choosing the Best argued that an abstinence-centered curriculum like Choosing the Best will not properly educate students on safe sex practices despite Texas’ high teen pregnancy rate. 

Recent Paschal graduate and teen mother Damaris Camarena reflected on her own sex education experience when she told the Pantherette she “didn’t grasp much” from the sex-ed instruction she received her freshman year and subsequently wasn’t prepared to navigate high school relationships. “I didn’t know much about sex, my menstrual cycle, or contraceptives. I was never taught anything about sex-ed, and many of the things that I didn’t know and found out on social media weren’t until after I was pregnant. Although being pregnant should not be shamed, it is not ideal for young girls.”

Ultimately, the school board adopted Choosing the Best, which made many of the meeting attendees happy. However, some left with questions about the effectiveness and future implications of an abstinence-based curriculum.

Board member Anne Darr said, “Is Choosing the Best curriculum perfect? No. There is no such thing as a perfect curriculum in any subject. Are there concepts related to sex education not addressed in the Choosing the Best curriculum that I want my children to be aware of? Yes.”

Darr continued by saying that parents should have these difficult discussions with their children but recognized that not every parent does. “I, too, prefer a comprehensive curriculum. However, that isn’t the curriculum selected by the SHAC, but I take comfort in the fact that, in addition to the SHAC’s recommendation, a group of 42 FWISD Health Teachers also collectively ranked Choosing the Best as their #1 curriculum choice.”

One of Paschal’s health teachers, Ms. Roskelley, didn’t get the chance to review the curriculum, but she similarly expressed contentment with the fact that “there is a sex-ed curriculum now” and that “having sex-ed is better than having no sex-ed.” Roskelley confirmed that last semester’s students were not given any form of sex education because of the district’s hold on instruction. 

“When I had to tell them that we weren’t going to have any sex-ed, they were a little bit disappointed because they wanted to learn about themselves,” she said. 

Rosalie Escobedo, Executive Director of Citizens Defending Freedom Tarrant County, said, “I am in support of Choosing the Best in that this abstinence-based curriculum is superior and closer in moral alignment to the objective of preserving the purity of the youth.”

Ms. Camarena, however, had a different view, saying,” I personally think that teaching kids thoroughly and the right way about what sex is, and what things that could happen, the risk and all that, is super important because kids these days know a lot more than adults think we do and I personally learn more at school than I do at home.”