Mount Lebanon board adopts new curriculum and instructional-materials policies amid calls for comprehensive sex education and LGBTQ protections

The Mount Lebanon Board of School Directors voted Jan. 27 to adopt a package of curriculum and instructional-materials policies, prompting lengthy public comment urging faster action on a separate comprehensive sex-education policy and clearer policies addressing LGBTQ student safety.

The board approved new policies numbered 102 (academic standards), 105 (curriculum), 105.1 (review of instructional materials by parents, guardians, and students), 105.2 (exemption from instruction), 107 (adoption of planned instruction), 108 (adoption of textbooks), 109 (resource materials), 110 (instructional supplies), 111 (lesson plans) and 119 (current events). The district also retired policies IF (curriculum and parental rights) and IJ (selection of instructional materials and resources). The board voted to adopt the package after discussion and a roll call in which the present members voted in favor; the motion passed.

Why it matters: The newly adopted policies create a district-wide process for reviewing instructional and noncurricular materials, and a formal mechanism for parents and students to request review of materials. Several residents and students who addressed the board said the new rules did not address broader gaps in district policy, especially the absence of a comprehensive sex-education policy and explicit protections for LGBTQ students.

During the meeting, resident Patrick Mannion, identifying himself as a teacher, said the new language “is not nearly as expansive or, pro…