2 TCDSB trustees want Ontario to delay rollout of new sex-ed curriculum
Posted June 11, 2015 1:59 pm.
Last Updated June 11, 2015 2:21 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Two trustees with the Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB) want the provincial government to delay implementing the new sexual education curriculum.
Trustees Angela Kennedy and Garry Tanuan are asking the board to send a letter detailing parents’ objections to the Ministry of Education, asking that the rollout be delayed.
Kennedy, who is behind the motion, said they are seeking a year-long delay until trustees have the chance to review the teachers’ resources, which are expected to be released mid-fall.
“Then we can assure parents with certainty that children won’t be taught a philosophy that Catholics don’t believe in,” Tanuan, who seconds the motion, said in a release.
Kennedy said “substantial parts” of the curriculum are in contradiction with the Catholic Church’s teachings.
“Catholic schools shouldn’t be forced to teach a program that doesn’t ground the expression of sexuality in love and marriage,” she said.
Kennedy will be presenting the motion at the TCDSB meeting on Thursday evening, which takes place at the Catholic Education Centre.
The sex-ed component is part of the new 2015 Health and Physical Education curriculum. It’s the first update to Ontario’s sex-ed curriculum since 1998.
It will see primary grade students learn about both the benefits and potential harms of online activity, including “sexting.” Children will be taught about same-sex marriage in Grade 3 and puberty in Grade 4.
Kennedy said additional teaching materials for Catholic schools need to be written by the Institute for Catholic Education “with teacher prompts that are consistent with Catholic teachings.”
“This is very personal and intimate material that we are asking educators to provide to our children. It is wrong for us to deny parents the opportunity to share with us what they think,” he said.
Kennedy said according to the Education Act, trustees have the authority to decipher whether the curriculum in question is appropriate for Catholic schools.
On Sunday, thousands of people gathered together at Queen’s Park to rally to protest the curriculum.
In May, some parents kept their children home from school, with Toronto District School Board reporting tens of thousands of absences.
