Sex education debate quashed until fall
A majority of the Clark County School Board marginalized one of its longest-serving members late Thursday with a vote to kill any discussion about its sex education policy until fall.
After first requesting such a discussion more than two years ago, District F Trustee Carolyn Edwards intended to ask the board to direct a sex education advisory committee to start drafting a set of proposed changes to the Clark County School District‘s curriculum.
But fellow board members, worried about angering parents, voted 6-1 to prevent Edwards from even submitting her request, which did not include an official action and would not have implemented any change to district policy.
"In my almost eight years on the board, we have never done this before, and I believe this is not a path that we want to go down," said District A Trustee Deanna Wright.
She eventually joined the majority to block Edwards but, prior to the vote, questioned the wisdom of the decision.
"I don‘t believe this is something that any one of us would want other board members to do to us," Wright added. "I personally do not think this is the way we normally do business."
In April 2013, Edwards first requested the board consider holding a discussion about its sex education curriculum.
She also wanted trustees to debate whether they should lobby the state to change a policy that requires a parent signature before any student can take a sex education course.
That conversation never happened, and Edwards on Thursday expressed frustration and said she was offended that trustees wanted her to postpone the discussion yet again.
"I really, seriously am done with being asked to wait," she said.
Her opponents on the board, however, stressed that they received "hundreds" of letters and phone calls from parents currently on summer vacation who wanted a voice in any discussion about sex education in Clark County schools.
Trustees now will avoid any public comments about sex education until their Sept. 24 meeting, though District B Trustee Chris Garvey asked Superintendent Pat Skorkwosky and his staff to begin gathering information on outdated or incorrect curriculum materials and the number of parents who withhold approval for their children to attend a sex education course.
School Board President Linda Young, who unexpectedly canceled a meeting last month to discuss sex education, offered a public apology to Edwards but said a further delay was not meant to offend.
"Hopefully we can agree to disagree — agreeably," Young said.
Contact Neal Morton at nmorton@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0279. Find him on Twitter: @nealtmorton.
