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Friday, November 22, 2024

Sex Ed: Franklin County Christopher Community Unit School District 99 opts out of controversial new sex education curriculum

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Christopher Community Unit School District 99 in Franklin County won’t be teaching the state’s new controversial sex education curriculum, despite protests the lessons are “obscene and fail to align with community standards.”

The Christopher Community Unit School District 99, which teaches 717 students, reported it has opted out of teaching the new curriculum, which includes lessons about masturbation starting in Grade 3.

There were one school district which did not reply to a query about if it would opt out of teaching the curriculum or said it would wait to make a decision.

The curriculum was criticized by Republicans as “outrageous” and “perverted” while advocates claimed it would safely teach students about things they’re already learning on the internet.

Out of Illinois’ 852 school districts, 520 have opted out of teaching the lessons, leaving students with no sex education lessons at all.

School districts can’t normally opt out of teaching part of a curriculum. However, the sex education bill signed by the Illinois governor included the opportunity for school districts to opt out of teaching the curriculum if they were opposed to the teaching. Some school districts have opted out of teaching the curriculum for certain grades.

Individual school data was gathered by grassroots organization Awake, IL.

Franklin County School Districts’ Decision About New Sex Ed Curriculum
School DistrictNumber of StudentsDecision
Benton Community Consolidated School District 471,068Opting Out
Benton Consolidated High School District 103531Opting Out
Christopher Community Unit School District 99717Opting Out
Ewing Northern Community Consolidated School District 115218Opting Out
Frankfort Community Unit School District 1681,581No Response
Sesser-Valier Community Unit School District 196572Opting Out
Thompsonville Community Unit School District 174304Opting Out
Zeigler-Royalton Community Unit School District 188507Opting Out

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