Verona Area School District board adopts new human growth and development curriculum, declines gender separation

The Verona Area School District board voted to establish a new human growth and development curriculum recommended by a two‑year advisory and review process and to maintain the district practice of not separating pupils by gender during instruction.

District staff said the recommendation follows Wisconsin statute 118.019 and the work of a multi‑role review team that evaluated three finalist curricular resources, piloted lessons and checked materials for alignment to statute, medical accuracy and developmental appropriateness. Adam Zincshine, director of pupil services, summarized the process and the board guidance that steered the team’s work.

"Our team existed in this process to make sure that we were identifying and recommending a resource that meets our standards," Zincshine said, describing multi‑stage review meetings, vendor presentations and pilot lessons used to reach the recommendation.

The advisory team recommended the Three Rs (Advocates for Youth) for elementary grades and ETR Health’s Smart for secondary grades. Team members told the board both resources were selected for medical accuracy, inclusive design, family engagement features and flexible teacher use. Mary Harden, an educator mentor on the review team, said the recommendations were chosen with an eye to standards, statute and family accessibility.

"We are very clear with our team that we are not an advocacy group making ideological decisions for our district," a team member said during the presentation, noting the team used statute and board guidance as its evaluation foundation.

The board moved, seconded and approved the motion to adopt the curriculum as presented, citing the statutory charge to establish the curriculum for human growth and development instruction. Board members also accepted administration’s recommendation that pupils not be separated by gender during this instruction.

The administration said professional learning and training will accompany implementation; staff identified August training sessions for teachers, nurses and health staff who will deliver the instruction. Officials said family‑facing materials and translation (including Spanish‑language resources) were part of the recommendation to improve transparency and support conversations at home.

The motion was approved by voice vote.

What happens next: the district will schedule staff training, publish family information about lesson content and timing, and begin classroom implementation consistent with the adopted resources and state statute.