School board approves sex education materials for middle school

Since the updated sex education materials for students in grades 4 through 7 is due to be taught in late April and early May, the lessons were brought to the Van Buren Public Schools Board of Education on April 22 for approval.
Topics for approval usually are presented at one meeting and then the board members can think about it and question details and then vote two weeks later. This approval was in a hurry.
The board voted unanimously to approve the materials on April 22. Trustee Dionne Falconer was absent.
Director of Curriculum and Instruction Jeff Moore said the current HIV videos are out of date and the maturation videos are out of date and some became pretty comical to view. The videos need to be updated, he said.
“Gender identity has become a big issue, but this has not been added to the curriculum,” Director Moore said. He said there were strong comments on that in the fall when input was sought in a survey.
“We’re asking for approval tonight because of the starting of the units,” Moore said.
School Supt. Pete Kudlak noted that parents can exclude their students from seeing the videos.
Board secretary Darlene Loyer Gerick said when she tried to access the eight videos on the link provided by Moore, she couldn’t do it. After finding another way, she was able to access the videos one by one. Moore said he would look into the problem.
Moore said the old videos, which are on DVDs, can’t be found on line.
“We will do a better job with the new videos,” which he said will be available on the district website.
President Pearce noted that the only sexually transmitted disease that the state requires the district to teach is HIV.
Moore said in a memo to the board that in response to the recognition of outdated materials currently in use, the sex-ed committee has worked on updating the district’s resources. It hosted two review sessions, on March 20 and April 10, inviting parental input, which has been positive, he said.
In other business at Monday’s regular meeting the board:
• Approved the NJROTC trip for 43 BHS students to Fort Custer Training Center in Augusta, MI, May 20-23, with transportation by school bus. The trip is financed through the JROTC account and cost to each student is $40;
• Heard a presentation by Renea Kirek, secondary instruction specialist, to explain the new 6, 7, 8th grade middle school math curriculum that is proposed to begin in the next school year. She said the committee researching what programs are available has selected Middle School Illustrative Math Curriculum by Imagine Learning out of 13 bids. Board treasurer Simone Pinter asked if this will roll the students into high school better than the present curriculum and Kirek said it would. Moore said the curriculum for the past six years has been Discovery Tech Book and it has suffered with the quality of its support. Cost for the new program is $210,323 over five years and there will be 10 professional development days scheduled for teachers, occurring twice a year for the next five years. This is expected to be voted on at the next school board meeting;
• Approved the Schools of Choice program for the first semester of the 2024-25 school year, with a Sept. 27 deadline to apply and unlimited number of openings;
• Approved the IDS Student Clinic Architecture Proposal as presented at the last board meeting to transform the existing 1,200-square-foot storage room and 280-square-foot office of the Media Center to provide health services to BHS students and other district students, in coordination with University of Michigan Medicine. Spaces to be included are a lobby, reception, patient intake, two exam rooms, storage room, toilet facility, laboratory, therapy office, and nourishment room. Cost is expected to be $400,000, but there are some grants. Julien Frazier, director of special services, said this clinic will have no abortion services and no gender-diversion care. He also said state law requires all services to have parental consent. He said the health care services offered will include dental, vision, and hearing screening, substance abuse, counseling, crisis intervention, housing and financial instability. These services are separate from the services offered by Dionisia Munoz, the district’s Registered Nurse;
• Approved the June 30 retirements of Theresa Libs of Rawsonville Elementary School after 26 years of service; Deborah Mounsey of Rawsonville Elementary after 25 years of service; and Jonathan Gibson of Edgemont Elementary after 11 years of service;
• Approved the resignations of Jessica Carlin of BHS after seven years of service as of May 10 and Joseph Gaines of BHS as of June 6 after three years of service;
• Approved the retirements of non-instructional staff: Patricia Harris of McBride as of June 6 after 40 years; Franklin Key of transportation as of June 7 after 14 years; and Janet Key of transportation as of April 30 after 27 years of service;
• Approved the resignations of non-instructional staff: Gregory Martinez of Building and Grounds as of April 12 as of less than a year and Williams McMichael of Rawsonville as of April 19 after three years of service; and
• Approved the employment of non-instructional staff: Beverly Swank as a substitute bus aide in the transportation department as of April 18 and Jennifer Adams as a paraprofessional at Edgemont Elementary School as of April 29.