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Modesto board approves Puberty Talk for fifth grade after heated public comment, allows selective opt‑outs and community partners
Summary
After more than three hours of public comment and extended trustee debate, the Modesto City Schools Board voted 5–2 to adopt the Puberty Talk fifth‑grade health curriculum for 2025–26, adding sheriff‑department or similar community lessons on human trafficking and internet safety and confirming parental selective opt‑out rights.
Modesto City Schools’ Board of Trustees voted 5–2 on June 23 to adopt the Puberty Talk health curriculum for fifth grade in the 2025–26 school year, adding a requirement that the district contract with the sheriff’s department or a similar community organization to provide lessons on human trafficking and internet safety. Trustees clarified that parents may opt their children out of any individual lesson in writing.
The decision followed a presentation by Mike Rich, the district’s associate superintendent for curriculum, who told the board the committee that reviewed materials met several times and voted 10–5 to recommend Puberty Talk. Rich summarized the legal framework, saying the California Healthy Youth Act (AB 329) requires instruction be medically accurate, age appropriate and inclusive where a district elects to teach CHYA topics in grades below seven; he also described the district’s notification and electronic opt‑out procedures.
The meeting featured a packed public‑comment period that ran…
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