HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — Hillsborough County school board members approved their sex education courses for students in seventh, eighth and ninth grades.
These courses are modified every year and are posted online for parents to review. Tuesday night, board members approved the new curriculum for the fall in accordance with the legislative law.
Not everyone agreed with what some children are learning.
"I have a seventh grader and if he read that dialogue, 'if you won’t have sex with me I’ll find someone else who will,' I cannot promise you I would blow a gasket," one student's parent said.
Other parents said they believe these courses will be beneficial for students.
"None of them are afraid of the word penis. None of them are being harmed by the curriculum. They are being harmed by not understanding consent," another student's parent said.
The curriculum is about reproductive health and disease prevention. The information was posted on the board’s website 20 days ago to give parents time to review it.
"This is curriculum we feel strong about that aligns with new legislation," Hillsborough County Superintendent Addison Davis said.
Board member Lynn Gray taught sex education in the past and said she believes kids learning from experts is beneficial.
"I would rather have my children learn from the experts than what they're doing now, which is going to their cell phones and they are finding out information," Gray said.
Like parents who spoke during public comment, not all board members agreed.
Board member Stacy Hahn was concerned with topics like the "morning after pill" and condom negotiations.
"These are sensitive topics and there does need to be an opportunity for those conversations to happen within the context of family beliefs and values," Hahn said.
After Hahn mentioned those concerns to the board, board member Melissa Snively said that she wanted to press pause on voting Tuesday night.
"Giving parents time to look through the curriculum and potentially make edits, adding to or subtracting from what currently exists," Snively said.
Snively said she believes some topics stray away from science.
Other board members said they have teaching experience and see the need for sex education.
"I had two sixth grade pregnancies and another seventh grade pregnancy," one board member said.
The curriculum was approved with only two board members voting against it.
"Warning parents, please take a good look at what the curriculum looks like because there are a lot of things that might make you uncomfortable or your children uncomfortable," Snively added.
Parents still have the option for their child to not sit through the courses by opting out. Opt-out forms for parents are available on the board’s website.