The Champaign-Urbana Public Health District has independently placed new curricula in the hands of teachers and social workers throughout Champaign County, and Champaign and Urbana school districts are working to incorporate more “comprehensive” sex education curricula into classrooms.
The Health District recently spent about $5,000 of grant money from the Illinois Department of Public Health on a sex education program called “Our Whole Lives” (OWL). The district is also distributing a curriculum developed by the public health department of King County, Washington, called “Family Life and Sexual Health” (F.L.A.S.H.).
Nikki Hillier, wellness and health program coordinator at the public health district, said every public school in Champaign-Urbana now has a copy of the OWL program, and that Countryside School, a private elementary school, had also requested the materials. The public health district held a training session in October that was attended by 20–30 local teachers and social workers, and five educators attended another training on March 6.
Hillier said that teachers are uncomfortable teaching about sex, and the workshops give them a chance to practice.
“We don’t want [teachers] making people feel excluded because maybe they have engaged in sexual activity, or maybe they have engaged in unprotected sexual activity, or maybe they’re not engaging in heterosexual sex,” Hillier said. “So we’d like them to take a non-judgmental approach, more of a science-based approach, deliver medically accurate information to the students.”
The OWL program, which was developed by the Unitarian Universalist Church and the United Church of Christ, includes material for all grade levels, from K–12. The F.L.A.S.H. curriculum includes material beginning at the fourth-grade level and continuing through 12th grade, with sections covering puberty, sexual exploitation, teen parenthood, HIV/AIDS, and sexual orientation.
Illinois has no state mandate to teach sex education, but current state law requires that abstinence until marriage be emphasized when it is taught. Parents are also free to write an objection to exempt their children from sex education in the classroom. Because Illinois is a “local-control” state, individual school boards have the authority to approve curricula for their districts.
However, some local school board members seemed surprised by the health district’s efforts.
“You’re getting some information that I’m certainly not aware of,” said Urbana school board member Steve Summers in response to a reporter’s queries. “There’s absolutely no way that the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District is going to establish district curricula.”
Julie Pryde, public health administrator of the district, acknowledged that the public health district has no authority to mandate what is taught in the schools.
“It’s not a requirement at all, and even though we purchased this for all of them, it doesn’t mean that they’ll use it,” Pryde said. “So now they at least have access to it. We have nothing to say about what the schools do, as far as sex ed or any type of health curriculum, except that we offer ourselves as a resource.”
Pryde was part of a content review team that met in 2006 to review various curricula, and said that the main goal of the team was to find “medically accurate” material.
“What I liked about the OWL program is that it’s very inclusive. It’s sex-positive,” Pryde said. For students who are already sexually active, Pryde said, “it doesn’t try to demean them in any way … [OWL is] inclusive of gay kids and it’s inclusive of transgender kids. It doesn’t assume that every kid is at the same maturity level that they’re speaking to.”
Mark Netter, president of the Urbana school board, said he supports comprehensive sex education.
“Students have to learn these things somewhere; with many issues, the school’s the place of last resort,” Netter said. However, Netter said he had little knowledge of what was currently taught in Urbana classrooms.
“Exactly how it’s being implemented right now, I couldn’t tell you,” Netter said. “We’re teaching sex education at all levels, and that’s enough. I don’t sit in on the classes and see what’s being taught, for example.”
Champaign school board member Kristine Chalifoux said she was not aware of the public health district’s involvement with new curricula, but would welcome their involvement. She said the issue of teaching about gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender relationships is difficult.
“The concept of family has changed for many of our children, and we don’t only talk about the traditional nuclear family anymore,” Chalifoux said. “Do I let my kids know too much about [homosexuality]? No, I don’t really want them to know too much about it. I’d rather them be taught in a controlled environment. As a parent, I tend to be a little more conservative … but as school board members, I think we need to make sure information is available to all the kids and that they have a good background and understanding.”
Paul Van Wyk has been teaching the OWL curriculum for years as a member of the Unitarian Universalist Church in Urbana.
“The program is quite versatile,” Van Wyk said. “It has programs aimed at grade-school children, junior high, high school, college, adult, variations on the theme directed toward the interests and the needs of whichever age you’re working with.”
The OWL curriculum includes role-playing games that encourage students to imagine what it would be like to be a different gender and ask them to think through the contraceptive needs of various couples.
“Obviously, you don’t want people to learn about sex by experience in the classroom, so role-plays and that kind of thing are good ways of teaching that catch on well with the students,” Van Wyk said.
Felicia Gooler sent her daughter Anna to the OWL program at the Unitarian Universalist Church when she was in seventh grade.
“I think this is what [Anna] came away with from the OWL program: [sex] is something that is sacred, and that this is something you don’t go into lightly, and that this is something you have an open dialogue with your partner on,” Gooler said.
Kristin Camp, science and health coordinator for Champaign School District Unit 4, said that changes to the sex education curriculum are currently being considered, but would not be implemented until at least a year from now. Although she mentioned that two Champaign teachers had attended a workshop at the public health district last spring, she did not want to name them, and would not reveal specifics about what curriculum was being considered.
Camp said a parent advisory group would be involved with curriculum decisions, but would not name any members of the group.
“We’re going to use all the latest research,” Camp said. “We are being very careful about what we choose.” Camp also said that budgetary concerns may make purchasing new curricula difficult.
Lou Sitch, a driver’s education teacher at Central High School, is part of the steering team of Champaign teachers who have been meeting to look at new curricula, but declined to give any further details about what was being considered.
“There’s a big push right now to do more comprehensive sex education,” Sitch said. “We want to make sure that all schools have all the resources.”
Although Jean Korder, director of curriculum, instruction, and assessment for Urbana School District 116, initially agreed to an interview for this article, she did not return repeated attempts to contact her, while Don Owen, Urbana assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, did not respond to requests for an interview. Champaign Unit 4 superintendent Arthur Culver and assistant superintendent for human resources and community resources Beth Shepperd did not return messages, and Dorland Norris, deputy superintendent of curriculum design, educational services, and equity, declined to be interviewed for this article.