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Edwardsburg Public Schools board approves updated reproductive health curriculum
Summary
The Edwardsburg Public Schools Board approved adopting an updated version of the Michigan Model for Health reproductive health curriculum after two public hearings and committee review.
The Edwardsburg Public Schools Board of Education voted to adopt an updated reproductive health curriculum based on the Michigan Model for Health, a staff presenter said during the board meeting.
The curriculum update was presented as meeting Michigan law requirements that “school districts are required to teach about dangerous communicable diseases including, but not not limited to, HIV and AIDS,” and that such instruction “must be offered at least once a year at every elementary, middle, and senior high,” the presenter said. The board approved the recommendation by voice vote after a motion to adopt the curriculum as presented.
District staff said the update follows recommendations from the Michigan Department of Education and replaces older materials with current, evidence-based resources. Staff said the district used an Education Advisory Board and a community curriculum subcommittee that included administrators, teachers, parents, local clergy and medical representatives. The presenter said chairs for that review were the presenter and district nurse Mikayla Settle, and that two public hearings were held — May 19 in the evening and June 23 in the morning — to allow community review and comment.
Staff said the district will continue its existing grade-sequenced implementation in fifth grade, middle school and high school within health courses; prior parent notifications, material review procedures and content release processes will remain unchanged. The presenter said the updated resources were made available online and were provided through a grant from local Michigan community health departments.
Board members did not request additional changes during the meeting. Following a motion and a second, the board approved the curriculum update by voice vote.
The board acknowledged that recruiting clergy for advisory participation had been challenging but thanked volunteers and staff for their work on the review process. The curriculum will be used in the district’s regular health course sequence beginning as specified by staff.
