A new sex education policy will get a second reading at Missoula County Public Schools' November trustees meeting to allow time for public comment.
The trustees are in the process of adding the policy after Senate Bill 99 required schools to provide parents 48 hours’ notice before introducing instruction related to human sexuality. The 2021 law also allows parents to remove their child from class during those discussions as an excused absence.
As of Monday, the district received one public comment related to the new policy.
Prior to SB 99 becoming law, parents in Montana could elect to have their child removed from sexual education instruction. The main area the proposed policy would change at MCPS are restrictions of instruction from abortion providers as well as the 48-hour notice, Superintendent Russ Lodge said at a board meeting on Oct. 11.
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The new policy would bar the district from allowing any “personnel to offer, sponsor, or furnish any course materials or instruction relating to human sexuality or sexually transmitted diseases if the person or entity provides abortion services.” Trustee Grace Decker motioned to simplify the language to instead read that there would be “no instruction by providers of abortions in the schools.”
At that meeting, KaCee Ballou, president of the Missoula Education Association, said that the policy could overburden teachers. Other trustees voiced similar concerns.
“I support our teachers who have this additional thing on top of their daily tasks,” said Board Chairperson Wilena Old Person. “I want to thank them for doing their jobs.”
Human sexuality instruction is defined by the policy and SB 99 to be information related to human sexuality, “including intimate relationships, human sexual anatomy, sexual reproduction, sexually transmitted infections, sexual acts, sexual orientation, gender identity, contraception or reproductive rights and responsibilities.”
Alphonso David, the now-former president of the Human Rights Campaign, said that SB 99 was “discriminatory” and “directly targets LGBTQ kids.”
“This bill sets a dangerous precedent in secondary education that would not only limit access to sex education, but any curriculum regarding LGBTQ people,” David said in 2021 after Governor Greg Gianforte signed SB 99. “All students, no matter their gender identity or sexual orientation, deserve the opportunity to learn about themselves and information critical to their health.”
Many school districts in the state are in the process of adopting policies related to SB 99 and several have already approved their own, including Kalispell Public Schools, Billings Public Schools and Bozeman Public Schools.
In June, a librarian at an elementary school in Livingston violated the new law and showed a presentation about the queer community to third graders that did not have prior approval from district administration nor proper parent notification, which was first reported by the Livingston Enterprise.
A substitute teacher replaced the librarian for the remainder of the school year following the violation. The librarian is still listed as an employee at the school, according to a staff webpage as of Monday afternoon.
The MCPS board heard the new sex education policy for its first reading at its meeting in early October and is expected to hear it for its second and final reading at the meeting scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 15 at 6 p.m. at the district offices. The meeting will also be streamed by Missoula Community Access Television. Public comment can be submitted before the meeting by emailing publiccomment@mcpsmt.org.
The COVID-19 pandemic spared no state or region as it caused historic learning setbacks for America’s children, erasing decades of academic progress and widening racial disparities, according to results of a national test that provide the sharpest look yet at the scale of the crisis. Across the country, math scores saw their largest decreases ever. Reading scores dropped to 1992 levels. Nearly four in 10 eighth graders failed to grasp basic math concepts. Not a single state saw a notable improvement in their average test scores, with some simply treading water at best.
