Health and Behavior Curriculum Comes Under Fire at BOE

The fourth and fifth grade health and behavior curriculum came under fire at the Board of Education meeting Thursday night.

The curriculum, which teaches what Superintendent Dr. Nathan Parker described as a basic sexual education on reproductive organs, came under fire when the elementary school nurses included materials supplied by Planned Parenthood after the state mandated an update to the curriculum.

"You should not ask Planned Parenthood to help with sex education," said James Freeman, a Lincoln-Hubbard parent, saying it is "wholly inappropriate."

Freeman, along with other parents, said that while some people think Planned Parenthood is a noble organization, their mission and activities are clearly political.

"Just as you don't ask the National Rifle Association to teach classes ... and you haven't invited the Tea Party Patriots to shape the curriculum of civics you should not partner with Planned Parenthood on sex and health education," he said.

Nora Wong, a parent and board member of Planned Parenthood of Greater Northern New Jersey, expressed her faith in the judgment of the district's nursing staff to decide what materials are appropriate to teach the students and which are not.

But Anjali McCormick said the relationship with Planned Parenthood doesn't fit with the district's mission to educate students "free of political influences."

"I'm not sure we've seen these values in action and I'm not sure that we are holding true to the mission statement," she said.

One of her concerns, she said, is that the materials discuss teens' rights versus adults' rights regarding pregnancy, abortions and parenting.

"Summit public schools have a really strict policy about kids bringing aspirin to school and here we are sponsoring, or you the school board are sponsoring, an organization that supports and advocates abortions without parental notification," she said. "So when you have such a polarizing, controversial organization in the public school I think we have reason to be concerned."

But not everyone in attendance was against the district's use of materials from Planned Parenthood. Several parents spoke up about the stigma surrounding the name Planned Parenthood and said the district shouldn't shy away from something just because of that.

"Just because it's coming from Planned Parenthood doesn't mean it's bad," said Danielle Maloney.

Annette Dwyer said she received notice from the district last year about resources available to parents to help supplement conversations about health and sexuality with children.

"I trust my local Board of Education and administrators in the school system to be true and pure to the integrity of academics and social context of behavior within the school system according to their purview," she said. "But I alone own the value systems on use and the application of that knowledge with my children."

Parker said that two doctors, Dr. Elizabeth Fagen and Dr. Susan Rubino, would be reviewing the materials for scientific accuracy and their feedback would be sought on the materials being used in the curriculum.

He also said copies of the materials would be made available to parents at the nurses office.

The next meeting of the Board of Education is a workshop meeting in the library at Summit High School on May 6 at 7:30 p.m.