Blackstone‑Millville school committee unanimously tables new health, sex‑education standards after heated public comment

The Blackstone‑Millville Regional School Committee voted unanimously Feb. 11 to table the recently adopted health and sex‑education standards and materials and to convene a subcommittee of parents, administrators and school committee members to review the curriculum.

The action followed more than an hour of public comment from parents and community members who urged the committee to rescind or slow implementation of the curriculum approved Dec. 12. “This program is revolting,” Becca Schnarbus said during public forum, arguing that lessons for grades 2–7 include material she described as inappropriate for young children and that linked websites could lead students to explicit content. Gino Elias told the committee that the decision at the December meeting was made with too little time for review and questioned whether the district had been transparent about which external “trusted websites” were included.

Superintendent Jason DeFalco told the committee the district’s educators had moved some of the more intensive standards to the highest allowable grade spans and that the intent was not to expose kindergarten or first‑grade students to mature material. He said the district had added permission slips that function as an opt‑in for some lessons and emphasized the district’s aim to avoid marginalizing students from non‑traditional family situations.

Committee members debated several options on the floor, including reverting to earlier lessons, adopting a fully alternative curriculum, or forming a working group to examine specific grade bands and lesson strands. The committee ultimately approved a motion to table the new standards until a working group composed of parents, administrators and committee members can review the materials and recommend changes. The motion passed by unanimous voice vote.

The committee and administration provided opt‑in/opt‑out counts at the meeting: second grade 72 opted in, 28 opted out; sixth grade 53 in, 10 out; eighth grade 32 in, 5 out; ninth and tenth grades 38 in, 4 out. The superintendent noted that some grade‑span lessons are already underway and that fifth‑grade implementation is scheduled to begin in March, which the working group will need to consider.

Next steps outlined by the committee include convening the parent/administrator subgroup to identify specific lesson strands of concern, review linked external resources, and return recommendations to the full committee. The committee directed staff to provide guidance from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and legal counsel as part of the review.