The Scottsdale Unified School District (SUSD) Board unanimously approved a new sex education curriculum at a special meeting Tuesday night.
The district stopped teaching sex education about four years ago because the curriculum hadn’t been updated since 2011.
In 2021, then-Governor Doug Ducey signed legislation barring districts from offering sex ed before fifth grade. That law requires districts to provide parents with a “meaningful opportunity to participate in, review and provide input” on any proposed sex ed course.
"We believe in Scottsdale that it is important for parents to have a choice and to own the opportunity to access high-quality instructional material for their children," said SUSD Superintendent Dr. Scott Menzel at Tuesday's meeting. "Because this is opt-in, we believe that it is the best way to ensure parental choice."
ABC15 reported earlier this year about SUSD's decision to start a committee discussing sex education.
After the committee met for a few months, it approved a preliminary course of study and identified 'Choosing the Best' as the best resource to match the content identified in the course of study.
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The course was then available for public review and comment from August until last week. Two required public hearings were then held in August and earlier this month.
When we heard from parents in the past, some have said the focus should be on academics only. Others have said a school sex education course is a better option than social media and word of mouth.
Resources on the Scottsdale website from the sex ed committee start the conversation about health and the puberty journey in the fifth grade.
