Explosive Sex Ed to Be Debated in Legislature, School Board

Sacramento, CA–A controversial sex education program that has roiled parents in the Bay Area will be the subject of a hearing at the State Capitol tomorrow and a lively school board meeting in Walnut Creek next week.
 
Over the past few months, public records obtained by Pacific Justice Institute have confirmed shocking details parents were hearing from their freshmen students in the Acalanes Union High School District.   Among other things, sex education for 9th graders was being taught by consultants from Planned Parenthood, including a self-described “pleasure activist” and another instructor who leads “pleasure workshops” for an adult toy store.  Handouts distributed during the instruction included a “sex checklist” that conveyed the notion 14-year-olds might be ready to get it on, and a consent handout that encouraged the freshmen to ask each other questions like, “Is it okay if I take my pants off?”   

The controversy is one of the reasons Assemblyman James Gallagher has introduced AB 517, which would require more parental consent for sex ed programs.  AB 517 is scheduled to be debated in the Assembly Education Committee tomorrow, April 8, at 1:30.  Parents from Acalanes UHSD and PJI affiliate attorney Michael Faber are expected to testify at the hearing.
 
Next week, a school board meeting in Acalanes UHSD will also address whether Planned Parenthood should continue to lead the controversial program.  The meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, April 15 at 7:30 p.m.  It has been moved from its normal location to the Del Valle Adult Education School in Walnut Creek to accommodate expected crowds.  Parents are encouraged to attend and should arrive early.
 
“We continue to be astounded by the documentation that shows a pattern of extremely poor judgment by Planned Parenthood and the administrators who have allowed them to conduct these outrageous programs,” noted Brad Dacus, president of PJI.  “It is past time for this school district to make sweeping changes, and for the Legislature to act so that parents in other school districts do not have the same problems.”

Pacific Justice Institute is a non-profit legal organization dedicated to defending religious, parental, and other constitutional rights.