MONROE - In response to a new state law, the Monroe school district is forming an ad hoc committee to look at what the district should include in its sex education curriculum.
Act 216, signed in April by Gov. Scott Walker, eliminates the requirement for districts that teach a Human Growth and Development curriculum to include contraceptives. According to the Wisconsin Legislative Council, a nonpartisan service agency of the state legislature, the law repeals the requirement to teach "the health benefits, side effects, and proper use of contraceptives and barrier methods approved by the FDA to prevent pregnancy and barrier methods approved by the FDA to prevent sexually transmitted infections."
The bill passed the Assembly 60-34 in March and the Senate 17-15 in November, with legislators voting mostly along party lines - Republicans in favor, Democrats against. Proponents of the new law say the measure gives local school districts more control over what they teach and gives a firmer endorsement of abstinence. Opponents, on the other hand, argue that it could increase the risk of sexually transmitted infections and teen pregnancies in districts that choose to drop curriculum on contraceptives and barrier methods.
What exactly the Monroe school district will teach remains to be seen.
In a story published Thursday, April 19, The Monroe Times erroneously reported that, starting in the fall, the district would drop contraceptives from its Human Growth and Development curriculum. That story was based on interviews with Cory Hirsbrunner, the district's director of curriculum and instruction, and a teacher in the district. Hirsbrunner said she was misquoted in that story, and did not say the new law takes a right vs. wrong approach.
Furthermore, she said last week, the decision on what the district will teach regarding contraceptives is yet to be decided.
She said in an email Thursday, April 26 that an ad hoc committee will be formed to review "the current law and current curriculum and then will address any potential changes or recommendations to the curriculum committee and the board of education."
She noted the district has several committees that review curriculum topics on a regular basis. "With the recent change in law, it is necessary for us to address these changes through an ad hoc advisory committee," she said.
Details on who will serve on the committee, as well as a timeline of when a decision is expected, have not been determined.
"A date has not been established for the formation of the committee, but the process has started," she said.
Hirsbrunner said the district has already adapted its curriculum to meet a provision of Act 216 that emphasizes abstinence as the only reliable way to prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. The law took affect Friday, April 20.
"We have made the required changes that we could immediately with the new law - for example, stressing abstinence as the only reliable way to prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections," she said. "Whereas, in the past, we were required to indicate abstinence as the most reliable way to prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections.
"Any other potential changes in the curriculum not implemented immediately will be reviewed" by the ad hoc committee, she said.
Act 216 also stipulates, among other things, that districts that include sex education must: explain pregnancy, prenatal development and childbirth; provide medically accurate information about HPV, HIV and AIDS; and instruction in parental responsibility and the socioeconomic benefits of marriage.
Under the previous law, a school board that elects not to offer sex education was required to notify each student's parent or guardian of that fact. The new law eliminates this requirement.
Act 216, signed in April by Gov. Scott Walker, eliminates the requirement for districts that teach a Human Growth and Development curriculum to include contraceptives. According to the Wisconsin Legislative Council, a nonpartisan service agency of the state legislature, the law repeals the requirement to teach "the health benefits, side effects, and proper use of contraceptives and barrier methods approved by the FDA to prevent pregnancy and barrier methods approved by the FDA to prevent sexually transmitted infections."
The bill passed the Assembly 60-34 in March and the Senate 17-15 in November, with legislators voting mostly along party lines - Republicans in favor, Democrats against. Proponents of the new law say the measure gives local school districts more control over what they teach and gives a firmer endorsement of abstinence. Opponents, on the other hand, argue that it could increase the risk of sexually transmitted infections and teen pregnancies in districts that choose to drop curriculum on contraceptives and barrier methods.
What exactly the Monroe school district will teach remains to be seen.
In a story published Thursday, April 19, The Monroe Times erroneously reported that, starting in the fall, the district would drop contraceptives from its Human Growth and Development curriculum. That story was based on interviews with Cory Hirsbrunner, the district's director of curriculum and instruction, and a teacher in the district. Hirsbrunner said she was misquoted in that story, and did not say the new law takes a right vs. wrong approach.
Furthermore, she said last week, the decision on what the district will teach regarding contraceptives is yet to be decided.
She said in an email Thursday, April 26 that an ad hoc committee will be formed to review "the current law and current curriculum and then will address any potential changes or recommendations to the curriculum committee and the board of education."
She noted the district has several committees that review curriculum topics on a regular basis. "With the recent change in law, it is necessary for us to address these changes through an ad hoc advisory committee," she said.
Details on who will serve on the committee, as well as a timeline of when a decision is expected, have not been determined.
"A date has not been established for the formation of the committee, but the process has started," she said.
Hirsbrunner said the district has already adapted its curriculum to meet a provision of Act 216 that emphasizes abstinence as the only reliable way to prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. The law took affect Friday, April 20.
"We have made the required changes that we could immediately with the new law - for example, stressing abstinence as the only reliable way to prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections," she said. "Whereas, in the past, we were required to indicate abstinence as the most reliable way to prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections.
"Any other potential changes in the curriculum not implemented immediately will be reviewed" by the ad hoc committee, she said.
Act 216 also stipulates, among other things, that districts that include sex education must: explain pregnancy, prenatal development and childbirth; provide medically accurate information about HPV, HIV and AIDS; and instruction in parental responsibility and the socioeconomic benefits of marriage.
Under the previous law, a school board that elects not to offer sex education was required to notify each student's parent or guardian of that fact. The new law eliminates this requirement.