NJ Sex Education Curriculum Rejected By Union County School Board

UNION COUNTY, NJ — In light of the highly controversial sex education curriculum that was proposed by the New Jersey Department of Education for the 2022-23 school year, Garwood's Board of Education passed a resolution that will prevent the district from implementing the updated curriculum.

Board member Sal Piarulli proposed the resolution to reject the curriculum at last Tuesday's Board of Education meeting, and the board voted 7-2 in favor of passing it. As of now, Garwood is the only school district in the state that has voted in favor of rejecting the updated curriculum.

The Toms River Regional Board of Education came close to taking similar action in Oct. of 2021, as members voted to reject the "Comprehensive Health and Physical Education" policy to review it further. But the school board later approved the policy after it was warned it was out of compliance with state law on several of the items covered under the policy.

Read more: Toms River School Board Rejects State Policy On LGBTQ Inclusion

Since early last month, there has been a large outcry over the updated sex education standards across the state, as many parents have complained that the standards expose young children to inappropriate sexual content

The sex education curriculum originally was supposed to be implemented for the 2021-22 school year, but that was delayed because of the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.

The 66-page document that outlines the 2020 Comprehensive Health and Physical Education standards not only includes sex education learning standards but also addresses mental health, physical education, bullying, peer pressure and a host of other issues.

Amidst a firestorm of criticism, Gov. Phil Murphy directed the state Department of Education to take another look at its guidelines. He also noted that New Jersey law provides parents with the option to opt their children "out of any health lesson that they would rather discuss in the privacy of their own home."

Read more: Murphy Orders Review Of Controversial Sex Education Standards

However, in Garwood, many parents argue that the opt out option is not enough and that this new curriculum should be completely banned. Before the vote, many parents and community members spoke at the meeting and voiced their concerns over the updated curriculum.

One community member said the New Jersey Education Association "should be ashamed of themselves" and should be "locked up" for "slipping disgusting sex education material throughout the K-8 curriculum."

She further criticized the proposed curriculum's mention of "abortion, anal sex, masturbation, puberty blockers, In-Vitro Fertilization, sexual identity and gender identity."

"I say keep our precious children to the innocence of their lives," she said. "Every single person pushing the sex ed curriculum, inclusive of the subject matter, is a sexual predator in my book and should be in jail."

Parent Heather Loffredo said the district should focus more on subjects like math, reading and writing, rather than implementing the new sex education standards.

"There's enough stuff being thrown at [children] from social media apps, television, music, videos, movies and other sources," Loffredo said.

"Parents know their children better than anyone and their maturity level when they believe they can adequately handle these conversations," Loffredo said. "From a religious point of view, this is a complete violation of many beliefs."

Loffredo said the district should "let the kids be kids."

After two board members voted "no" against Piarulli's resolution, someone from the audience shouted,"pedophiles!" in response. The board member conducting the vote then told the audience not to comment during the voting process.

Highlights from last week's Garwood Board of Education meeting can be viewed on YouTube below, posted by Parent Advocates for Garwood Students — a group that organized on Facebook and formulated a plan to speak up at the board meeting.

The full meeting can also be viewed here.

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