Florida: St. Lucie Adopts Revised Sex Ed Plan

Ending months of debate, the St. Lucie County School Board voted 4-1 Tuesday night to approve the "Get Real About AIDS" curriculum for use in fourth through 12th grades. Superintendent Michael Lannon recommended the lessons to the board in August following their endorsement by the St. Lucie Executive Roundtable. That group, composed of 27 community leaders, had expressed concern that the district's health curriculum did not do enough to fight the county's high HIV/AIDS rate. Responding to complaints from citizens who thought the program was too graphic, the board removed some content including condom demonstrations and descriptions of sex acts. Opponents, however, continued to insist the lessons were too explicit. The Rev. Bryan Longworth, who led protests against the curriculum, vowed to fight on. "In the next four years, we have four school board members to replace," he said.

Back to other news for December 2007