Duval County Public Schools To Create Its Own Supplemental ‘Reproductive Health Materials’ to Comply with State Standards
DUVAL COUNTY (FLV) – A Duval County School Board agenda item related to supplemental curriculum materials for “reproductive health and disease prevention” has been withdrawn from the Sept. 12 board meeting agenda.
Instead of adopting materials from a publishing company, the district says it will create its own supplemental materials to meet educational requirements defined in Florida statues for the 2022-2023 school year.
Since the state-approved textbooks do not address all statutory requirements, it is necessary for districts to purchase or create supplemental materials to meet the requirements of law.
“It has become abundantly clear to me that our internal team can create lessons and materials that serve students’ educational needs and meet our requirements under the law,” said Superintendent Dr. Diana Greene.
“Starting from scratch and adhering to the boundaries of Florida Statute will be a far easier task than trying modify or find existing publisher materials that may or may not meet Florida’s standards.”
A 2021 revision of state law requires that school boards annually approve all supplemental materials “used to teach reproductive health or any disease, including HIV/AIDS, its symptoms, development, and treatment.”
The district will have a team of health educators create the new materials and will be available to the public 20 days before a future school board meeting in which a public hearing will be scheduled.
Members of the public will be able to share their comments and the school board will have the opportunity to approve the new materials during the hearing.
The District says no specific deadline has been set, but they are working to ensure students in current academic year health classes receive legally required instruction.
Duval County Public Schools is the 6th largest School District in Florida with more than 125,000 students across 195 schools in the Jacksonville area.
