By Ruth Anne Maddox, Staff Writer

Responding to parental concerns about the content and presentation of the human growth and development unit of the Shakopee Schools health curriculum, the School Board approved recommendations by the K-12 Health Articulation Committee to make a few changes for the 2008-09 school year.

Parents also will be given an opportunity to view all the human sexuality curriculum materials during a night set aside with Superintendent Jon McBroom present to answer any questions. The materials still will be available to parents at the schools and can be reviewed upon request, a policy which has always been in place for all district curriculums.

“It has been done in the past with very little parental participation, so it kind of just went away,” McBroom said of the parent night for sex education. “But, we’ll try it again.”

Joy Massard, who along with her husband, Giovanni, led the charge in June decrying the material as too harsh for boys and girls, especially if they viewed it together. One of the teaching tools has been a Public Broadcasting Service “Nova” video called “Life's Greatest Miracle” that included a live birth — something the Massards felt was too vivid for 11- and 12-year-olds.

“We want to teach girls not to be afraid of blood,” Joy Massard said of explaining menstruation to them, “but with an unedited live birth, we’re scaring them.”

McBroom said the school district has used the same materials for at least 10 years.

Despite that fact, Board Member John Canny said he’s glad to see there will be a review. He said he watched the video in question, “and there’s got to be something better out there.”

Board Member Bob Loonan went so far as to say that he felt the video was “inappropriate.”

While she seemed satisfied with the board’s decision to update the resources and to make sure parents are notified when the human sexuality curriculum will be presented, Massard was not happy about continued co-ed teaching except during certain aspects.

McBroom outlined the committee recommendations, which include making sure content is taught in a consistent manner across the district, with all but one class period for discussion in fourth grade and the viewing of videos and subsequent discussion in fifth and sixth grades, being presented in a co-ed classroom. During the gender-separated segments, the girls will be taught by a female instructor and the boys by a male instructor.

Massard questioned why fourth-graders are now co-ed for the unit when it had been separated in the past.

McBroom contends that all classrooms were co-ed except for a couple of team-teaching situations he recently learned of, where the teachers took it upon themselves to separate the children by gender for discussion.

Though Massard thought that the teachers should be allowed such leeway, McBroom said the district believes that there should be consistency in both the content and presentation of the materials.

In another effort to maintain consistency, all health teachers in the district will use the same grade level letter to send home to parents informing them of the specific topics and resources to be used during the two-week human growth and development unit. The letter also will explain the opt-out/independent study option for parents who don’t want their students to participate in this portion of the regular health curriculum. If a parent does not respond to the letter, it will be assumed the student is allowed to participate.

McBroom again apologized for the breakdown in communication that led to a letter not being sent to all parents last year and admitted that it “shouldn’t have happened.”

It was stressed that the “opt out” choice doesn’t mean that the child will not receive the information, but it can be presented in an alternative fashion. Those parents who do not like the alternative information can bring in their own curriculum so long as it touches on the same points other students at that grade level are learning. The information the parent wants to present must be approved by the school principal.

“We believe it is important,” McBroom said of the human sexuality information. “There are kids at the middle school and junior high level who are getting pregnant. Ultimately, it’s the parents’ responsibility but, unfortunately, they don’t always take care of it.”

Loonan noted that the committee recommendations show that the district wants parental involvement — and that it always has. “There are many ways to address the topic,” he said. “If parents want to do it another way, we totally respect that.”

While the district also has been accused of insensitivity to other cultures because of the materials used, McBroom said the district has made efforts to keep those issues in mind.

Board Chair Kathy Busch agreed, noting she believes the curriculum is sensitive to the various cultures within the district.

With a 30 percent diversity among its students, Massard would like to see the district provide two “legitimate paths” in the curriculum and to send letters to the international community.

Loonan previously said it would be impossible for the district to settle on a curriculum that is acceptable to all families. “We’re handing it to the parents — that’s the best we can do,” he said.

The human reproduction curriculum begins in fourth grade, with information also presented in fifth, sixth and eighth grades, as well as in high school.

The School Board must approve any substantive change in curriculum and the new video choice will be presented to them prior to the material being shown to students.

Ruth Anne Maddox can be reached at (952) 345-6678 or rmaddox@swpub.com.