Roxbury board adopts annual curricula amid public concern over policy edits and opt-out handling

The Roxbury Board of Education approved its annual curricula during its regular meeting, after trustees discussed how the district handles parental opt-outs for health and sex education and responded to a public commenter’s concerns about recent policy edits.

A parent, Susan Stov of Kenville, said several policy changes in the board packet worried her, including what she described as the removal of a paragraph in policy 5350 that addressed reporting attempted or completed suicides and deletions in the text of policy 8467 defining weapons. "When I was a high school sophomore my friend Rose went home for lunch and found her brother had committed suicide," Stov said during public comment, arguing that those reporting provisions should remain in place.

Superintendent Dr Santor and other administrators said the board was voting on an annual adoption that, if a specific curriculum were not approved, would revert to the most recently approved version. They also said the state’s guidance requires districts to use an opt-out process for certain health and physical-education content rather than an opt-in system. "The state was very clear that that is not a defensible practice that districts could engage in," the superintendent said, explaining why the district could not simply flip to opt-in.

Board members pressed for clearer procedures to avoid embarrassing students who exercise an opt-out. Administrators acknowledged planning gaps and said buildings designate alternative locations so students invited to sit out a lesson do not have to be publicly called out; the superintendent and principals will refine those arrangements.

The board’s packet included a Google form for parents to register opt-outs; administrators asked that parents try to complete the form by Oct. 15, though they said forms submitted later would still be processed. Board discussion also clarified recent opt-out counts: an early estimate mentioned roughly 50 opt-outs this year but minutes later referenced a data point of 113 opt-outs from last year.

The board approved education resolutions that include the annual curriculum adoption. Trustees directed further questions about lesson timing, alternative locations and content to the education committee and building principals. The education committee is scheduled to meet Oct. 7 to continue curriculum oversight.