Montgomery County may teach students in as early as the eighth grade lessons about homosexuality, gender identity and, for older students, the use of condoms under a legal ruling by the Maryland State Board of Education on Tuesday.
“[T]here may be disparate points of view on whether homosexuality or transgender issues are appropriately included in the way [Montgomery County Public Schools] has chosen to do so,” the board’s ruling said. “Yet that decision is a local decision and this Board, acting in a quasi-judicial capacity, will not second guess the appropriateness of the local board’s decision governing curriculum, unless, of course, that decision is illegal.”
The two lessons to be added to the health curriculum were designed to encourage tolerance regardless of sexual orientation, school officials said. A video for 10th-graders details the correct use of a condom.
But conservative groups such as Citizens for a Responsible Curriculum, Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays, and Family Leader Network had asked the Board of Education to overturn the county’s decision to include these lessons.
“Obviously we are disappointed, but we’ll be reading through this decision and considering our options,” Citizens for a Responsible Curriculum spokeswoman Michelle Turner said. “We can always take this to court, and that’s something that we’ve considered,” Turner added.
Patricia O’Neill, a member of the Montgomery County Board of Education, said she felt the court’s decision affirmed the right of local school systems to develop curriculum that conforms to state standards. She added that she expected the groups to continue their challenge.
“We developed this curriculum using pediatricians and our curriculum staff with the attorneys at their elbows making sure every ‘i’ was dotted and every ‘t’ was crossed,” O’Neill said. “We’ve been very careful as we’ve proceeded.”
During the spring, the new curriculum was piloted in select classrooms in three middle school and three high schools.
