Back in October, Plymouth Public Schools (PPS) sent out a notification that surprised many 8th grade parents: they planned to start a brand-new Comprehensive Sexuality Education curriculum in just two weeks. Parents who asked to view the curriculum were stymied and delayed – they were told that to see the lessons, they must make an appointment to go to the school to view them in person. The lack of transparency raised red flags.
At the October 20th school committee meeting, a brave dad spoke up. He reminded the school committee that district policy guarantees parents time to review sex-ed materials and even appeal decisions, a process that can take up to six weeks. In other words, the district’s own timeline made it impossible for parents to use the rights the policy promises them.
The school committee must have realized he had a point, because not long after that meeting, the middle school principal sent an email saying the rollout would be delayed. That was a good step, but now other questions rose to the surface. The principal’s email had mentioned consultants had helped create this curriculum. Who were these consultants, and who paid them? How did they instruct the teachers to implement the lessons? While concerned Plymouth parents were busy organizing and hosting an info night at a local church, we submitted a public records request to the PPS to learn more. What we uncovered showed that these parents were right to question this curriculum, as well as the ideology of those behind it.
According to the public records request, the PPS had obtained a state grant to pay Lighthouse Wellness and Health Education Consulting (LWHEC) to train staff on how to design and implement the curriculum. Invoices show $40,000 paid to LWHEC through this grant alone. After viewing the teacher training materials, we can see why the MA Department of Elementary and Secondary Education selected LWHEC as their preferred professional development provider – LWHEC mimics the state’s progressive priorities. The training was based on the Rights, Respect, Responsibility (3Rs) curriculum from Advocates for Youth, and it recommended that Plymouth teachers also use Planned Parenthood as a resource. To see all of the documents we got from our records request, read our full report on the Massachusetts Informed Parents substack.
The school committee was set to meet again on December 1st, and sex ed was on the agenda. Would the PPS address the parents’ valid concerns about transparency and inappropriate content? Plymouth parents came prepared to speak, and so did their opponents.
When meeting time came, there was over an hour of public comment, split evenly between CSE supporters and common-sense parents who didn’t want their 13-year-olds learning about topics like anal sex during the school day. During the parents’ comments, a CSE supporter in the front row sat behind them, often making faces or shaking her head dismissively. While she did not identify herself during the meeting, we later received a credible report that she is a school committee member from nearby Pembroke.
Pembroke School Committee member makes a face at a concerned mom’s comment
You can watch more of her blatantly disrespectful reactions in the video below.
During their presentation that evening, the K-8 PE and Health Department Head and the Assistant Superintendent made a few things clear. They showed no signs of abandoning the new curriculum, and they intend to expand it to grades 6 and 7 next year. They erroneously told the school committee and parents that MA law mandates that “any school offering sexual health education must provide a medically accurate, age-appropriate, and comprehensive curriculum consistent with the state’s Comprehensive Health Framework.” (Fact check: it doesn’t.) They referenced the grants, but only when asked. They mentioned they also worked with another consultant, Partners in Sex Education, an organization known for its progressive advocacy . Finally, they agreed to look into putting the whole curriculum online so parents could see it. Only one of these things is good.
This week, the PPS followed through and uploaded the 8th grade sex ed lessons to their district website. The curriculum appears to be a modified version of what was originally created by the district and presented back in October. And while the PPS deserves kudos for increasing transparency, the curriculum is still deeply flawed, and some questions remain unanswered. For instance, the material uploaded does not contain any information on how the teachers have been instructed to present the lessons, which means parents who are simply viewing the lessons are likely not getting the full picture of what will happen in the classroom.
We encourage Plymouth parents to continue to dig into what is happening in their town. Keep pushing back, and if the district won’t budge, take a cue from almost 4,000 concerned parents in Worcester and opt your kids out.
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