Two mothers of faith had stories to share during Fort Worth Independent School District’s Feb. 27 school board meeting on sex education. Although what they were asking from the board was different.
The highlight of the meeting was for board members to vote on purchasing a new abstinence-centered sex education curriculum. Jennifer Nelson, a Fort Worth ISD parent and staff member of Broadway Baptist Church, took to the podium Tuesday night with her concerns.
Nelson did not want the district to purchase the new curriculum.
“I’m a strong believer in the separation of church and state for the very reason that I stand here today.” Nelson said. “The 2023 school year began with our libraries closed due to book bans. To date, sex education has not been taught because of these extremist views and their use of our campuses as a battleground over LGBTQ+ rights, all at the cost of our children’s education and well-being.”
Hollie Plemons, another Tarrant County mother of faith, shared her dissatisfaction with previous sex education curricula after transferring her first two sons to Fort Worth ISD. She transferred those sons out of the district and does not plan to enroll her third son in Fort Worth ISD, she said.
Plemons wants sex education to be taught at home, but if the school district were to implement a curriculum, she wants them to purchase the new curriculum. Her sons were taught about things that did not align with her family’s values. “Other families can have different values, but in our family, that’s not something that we support. By sending my child to public school, my family values should not be trampled,” Plemons said.
Nelson and Plemons were just two of the several people of faith at the school board meeting who came to voice their concerns about how sex education would be taught in Fort Worth public schools. Several clergy, members of ministry and faith-based organizations gathered to show their support or concerns over the district adopting a new abstinence-centered sex education curriculum from Choosing the Best Publishing.
Brightly colored posters reading “Pro Christian values. Pro families. Pro America” and “Teach real sex-ed” were raised into the air when words like abstinence, church and God were mentioned in the almost two-hour public comment session of the meeting.
The Board of Education unanimously voted Tuesday night to purchase the Choosing the Best curriculum for more than $70K. Fort Worth ISD sex education classes begin this spring.
Texas school districts are not required to teach sex education. However, districts that choose to teach sex education require lessons to focus on abstinence and for parents to opt their students into the course.
One of the first few speakers that stood at the podium on Tuesday was Rosalie Escobedo, executive director of Citizens Defending Freedom, an organization that describes its mission as to “educate the American citizen on the value of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and its influence on America’s founding.”
“I’m in support of choosing the best in that this abstinence-based curriculum is superior and closer in moral alignment to the objective of preserving the purity of the youth,” Escobedo said.
Although Escobedo was in support of the new curriculum, she mentioned that there were components of the curriculum that she would “line-item-veto,” or partially remove, including discussion of contraceptives and LGBTQ+ language, she said.
Sheri Allen is a cantor and co-founder of Makom Shelanu, which describes itself as an inclusive, affirming Jewish community in Fort Worth that advocates for social justice. Allen believes that sex education should be taught in public schools because it might be the only way students of different backgrounds get that kind of information.
“There’s unique challenges that LGBTQ youth go through, when they’re dealing with their changing bodies and puberty and confusion around those issues. You have to be upfront and frank about those conversations,” Allen said.
Gail Smith, a precinct chair for Tarrant County’s GOP, shared her concerns about schools teaching sex education rather than parents. Smith also wore a T-shirt from For Liberty and Justice, a nonprofit affiliated with Mercy Culture Church.
“I still prefer a full abstinence-based, morality-based curriculum that doesn’t teach medications such as Plan B pills or contraceptives. I believe that it is the right of the parents to choose to teach their children about sexual practices as they see fit.”
While the new curriculum does focus on abstinence, the Rev. Mary Spradlin from Arlington Heights United Methodist Church shared her concerns about the curriculum and wanting more explanation on other forms of pregnancy prevention.
“The middle school module teaches kids that condoms are not always effective in preventing pregnancy. But nowhere in the curriculum does it explain or define what a condom is,” Spradlin said. “In this and many other areas, the curriculum seems to assume that kids have already received sex education, and they are now getting a follow-up to ensure that they understand that abstinence is best because sex can result in pregnancy and STDs.”
Students also appeared and gave comments at the meeting. One of them being Arlington Heights High School junior Emma Barbarena, who grew up with a Catholic background but wants to keep faith out of conversations on sex education, she said.
“A public school is a public place for free learning, a censored curriculum should have no parts in it,” Barbarena said. “If you want to protect your students, allow them to take a course that informs them of their bodily functions, not hide important information, leaving them to resort to the internet.”
Marissa Greene is a Report for America corps member, covering faith for the Fort Worth Report. You can contact her at marissa.greene@fortworthreport.org or @marissaygreene.
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