State board committee forwards PCAU materials after debate over third-grade content and delivery

Members of the Utah State Board of Education’s Standards and Assessment Committee on Thursday reviewed Prevent Child Abuse Utah (PCAU) instructional materials and debated whether some third-grade presentations are too compressed and use adult academic language that may be hard for 8- and 9-year-olds to process. The committee voted to forward several PCAU-related curriculum items to the full board for final approval and directed staff to work with PCAU on specific concerns; the committee also extended PCAU’s current approval through January 2026.

The meeting opened with three public commenters, including Deandra Brown, who identified herself as a survivor and PCAU collaborator. She told the committee that “words matter. Clarity gives children power, and vagueness takes that power away,” and urged the board not to replace explicit terms for abuse with vague labels such as “body safety.” Alex Peterson, another survivor and parent, said prevention…