Fort Worth ISD is inching closer to bringing sex education back into district classrooms.
During a board meeting Tuesday, Feb. 27, district trustees will consider the approval of a brand new sex education curriculum. If adopted, Fort Worth ISD students would be taught sex education this spring.
“The steps to recommend a human sexuality education curriculum resource have been thoroughly conducted and completed,” district spokesman Jessica Becerra said in a statement sent to the Fort Worth Report. “Approving … Choosing the Best provides the opportunity for students to participate in high-quality learning.”
The item is being brought to the board as the district’s School Health Advisory Council was prompted in August 2023 to consider six different sex education curricula after Superintendent Angélica Ramsey scrapped plans in January 2023 to adopt materials from California-based HealthSmart.
From Jan. 1 to Jan. 19, the council reviewed those curricula and scored them based on their adherence to state requirements. During a Jan. 22 SHAC meeting, the council voted to recommend sex education curriculum Choosing the Best.
Out of the six potential curricula, Choosing the Best was the most “abstinence-focused,” council member Kathryn Pompa previously told the Fort Worth Report. In Texas, if a school chooses to teach sex education, the state requires the curriculum to emphasize abstinence.
On Tuesday, Fort Worth ISD board members have three options open:
- Approve the purchase of Choosing the Best, prompting Fort Worth ISD students into sex education classes by this school year.
- Decline the purchase of Choosing the Best, forcing the SHAC to recommend a second curriculum. HealthSmart was the second-highest scoring curriculum by the SHAC during its reviewal process.
- Ask for further study, further delaying Fort Worth ISD students from being taught sex education.
Ramsey previously told the Fort Worth Report that the district is expecting sex education curriculum to return this spring.
If adopted, the board would approve a $72,272 purchase of the curriculum from Choosing the Best Publishing. Funding for the purchase would come from ESSER, or COVID relief dollars, that expire Sept. 30.
Fort Worth ISD has received more than $407 million in ESSER funds since 2020. The district has spent more than $345 million of it, according to Edunomics Lab, Georgetown University’s school finance group.
The board’s discussion surrounding sex education and its potential readoption across the district has also galvanized controversy and protest.
At Tuesday’s meeting, a group of district parents plan to hold a rally, complete with signs and public comment.
The parents plan to protest to “support a more comprehensive health curriculum and reject abstinence-only education,” parent Suzanne Mabe told the Fort Worth Report.
Matthew Sgroi is an education reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at matthew.sgroi@fortworthreport.org or @MatthewSgroi1. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.