Norfolk School Board adopts expanded sex-ed curriculum; public speakers largely oppose decision

NORFOLK — The Norfolk School Board approved the adoption of a new sex-education curriculum on Wednesday night, after several speakers called on the group to reject it.

The vote was 6-1 — Rodney Jordan, who had previously said he was “squeamish” about the curriculum, was the only dissenting vote.

The board discussed the curriculum in April and earlier this month and did not discuss it further when it was time to vote. When making the motion to adopt the curriculum, board member Tanya Bhasin described it as a “medically appropriate, developmentally appropriate, culturally sensitive and inclusive curriculum.”

[ Norfolk schools’ proposed new sex-ed program receives national attention, topics to include gender identity ]

The program, called “Get Real: Comprehensive Sex Education That Works,” will expand instruction to include terminology such as “homosexuality,” “lesbianism,” “abortion,” and “masturbation.” It will also cover topics such as gender and sexual identity, sexual risks and low-risk intimacy and more, depending on grade level.

The curriculum would be used for grades six through 10 through a partnership with Eastern Virginia Medical School’s Teen Health 360 Program.

Before the vote, the board went into closed session and received legal guidance on the matter, but there was no public discussion. However, about a dozen public speakers came to share their opposition to the curriculum.

They criticized the curriculum for its connection to Planned Parenthood and called it inappropriate for children and asserted that it promotes what they called an “LGBTQ agenda.”

Several speakers referenced a letter apparently from Superintendent of Public Instruction Lisa Coons sent to Norfolk Public Schools Superintendent Sharon Byrdsong to advise the division against adopting the Get Real curriculum.

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The division declined to comment when asked to confirm if it had received the letter and the office of the state superintendent could not be reached for comment.

The letter the speakers shared stated the Get Real curriculum is not aligned with the state’s family life education Standards of Learning or the “statutory requirements of an abstinence-focused curriculum that is age-appropriate.”

It stated, “For example, teaching children as young as 12 how to role-play sexual scenarios in classes with their peer is not age-appropriate in-classroom conduct, nor is aligned with the SOLs.”

According to survey results presented to the board earlier this month, the majority of the more than 200 respondents found the new curriculum to be “excellent” when considering the age appropriateness of the topics as well as its ability to address both physical and social emotional needs.

One parent who spoke Wednesday said her two children went through the curriculum and praised it for the instruction it provided.

“The end result was two young people who are empowered,” she said.

Kelsey Kendall, kelsey.kendall@virginiamedia.com