By Charlotte Matherly, contributor
As it stands, all Rockingham County students automatically receive family life education unless a parent opts them out. The curriculum, adapted for different age levels, covers everything from family relationships to sex education to mental health.
The school board is now weighing a policy change that will flip that on its head — no students would receive that education unless their parents opt into it.
“Now, before we can teach that curriculum to the child, we have to have a consent form in our hands so that we know that you as a parent have given your permission,” Superintendent Larry Shifflett said of the proposal. The board has yet to vote on it.
Parents are already entitled to review the curriculum and all materials associated with it.
Board member Hollie Cave said she’d like her colleagues to consider dropping this curriculum for grades K-3, questioning whether that age range is too young to be discussing some sensitive topics like “really private body parts” and whether all parents are comfortable with it.
“I know we say, ‘Hey, you can look at the curriculum,’ but quite honestly, most parents, I don’t know that they do,” Cave said. “I don’t know if they know the terminology that teachers are allowed in first grade … My daughter’s 10 and my son is 9, and I have introduced neither of them to some of the terms.”
The learning standards put forth by the Virginia Department of Education varies greatly depending on a student’s grade level. For kindergarteners, family life education teaches about acceptance, respect, human behavior and different types of families, as well as how to recognize “good” and “bad” touches from family, neighbors, strangers and others. For high-schoolers, it covers family relationships, sources of stress and conflict, dating violence, sexual harassment and abuse, abstinence from sex and other topics.
School board members said they might present the opt-in question to parents during registration instead of on an as-needed basis — that way, there’s a smaller chance of the paperwork getting missed.
“There are also a lot of reasons why things never make it from the backpack to parents,” said board chair Sara Horst. “I just don’t want any child receiving education along those lines just because a parent happened to not see it.”
Hilary Irons, who defeated former board member Matt Cross in the county’s third district, attended her first regular meeting. She said her child has lost forms before.
“I like the opt-in option,” Irons said, “and I think that provides a layer of protection for everybody, just, especially when we’re dealing with some topics that maybe challenge certain families’ values.”
With the addition of Irons, Rockingham County now has an all-female school board.
Jackie Lohr, the longest-serving member on the board, narrowly won her election and has returned to serve her ninth year and third term.
Irons describes herself as a conservative and said she has spent the first few weeks on the job attending school events, meeting with staff and learning the ropes.
Her goals include bringing reading skills “up to snuff,” launching a fine arts component to the Massanutten Technical Center, incorporating this year’s 250th anniversary of the United States, and bringing back cursive writing instruction. Students should be able to read the U.S. Constitution in its original, cursive form, she said.
“At the heart of it all is just that it’s what’s best for kids.That’s why we’re all here,” Irons said. “That’s not always the easiest path for adults, unfortunately, but it’s the responsibility we share, and I’m really looking forward to serving the county.”
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