Sparta school board votes in favor of new health education standards

The Sparta Public Schools Board of Education on August 25 approved the curriculum for the 2022-23 school year, including the new physical education and health standards, which have been the subject of controversy over the past several months.

The curriculum passed 6-2 with both school board members Kurt Morris and Lauren Collier voting against. Collier, when she cast her vote, specified that she was voting against the new health and special education standards. School board member Kim Bragg was absent.

The new standards for second graders says they need to define reproduction and discuss the range of ways people express their gender and how stereotypes may limit behavior. By the end of fifth grade, students would need to explain common human sexual development and the roles of hormones, such as romantic and sexual feelings, masturbation, mood swings and the onset of puberty. By eighth grade students are required to differentiate between gender identity, gender expression and sexual orientation.

Assistant Superintendent Tara Rossi said district professionals have spent hours ensuring the content is handled in a way that is “measured and reasonable.”

“We haven’t blindly accepted but we’ve made decisions that make sense, allowing choice for families while aligning to standards, but also to our district policy,” Assistant Superintendent Tara Rossi said.

Sparta resident Walter Knapp said the communication regarding the new health standards was poor. He said the emails that were sent out were confusing to himself and other family members that he spoke with.

“Family life lessons versus extended health is where the confusion mostly lay,” he said. “Just to be clear, family life lessons is the new curriculum and the new sexual education standards.”

Several parents reiterated concerns that these things should be taught in the home and not at school.

“This material shouldn’t be taught to kids,” Colleen Vanaman said. “Their education in school is meant to be their education.”

Rossi said she spoke with many people who are not comfortable speaking at Board of Education meetings or online and they do have interest and concerns and said she has spoken to people on all sides of the controversy.

“They’re all rational and reasonable and I very much respect their views,” Rossi said. “As someone said earlier, a lot of people are selecting the extended health lesson, which is the new curriculum, it is the alternative to family life, but it is not the old curriculum. The new curriculum does the old standards, but it is the new curriculum. Many people are choosing that because they believed that these topics should be handled in their home, or they’re concerned for how their child might feel in the classroom or they have views and values that might contradict or butt up against what the standards call for, and we completely understand that.”