New Hanover County schools sex education programs changes to align with presidential executive orders
"You're not here for the students. You're here for your beliefs and your beliefs only."
NEW HANOVER COUNTY (WWAY)–The New Hanover County School Board met Tuesday night. One of the big topics on the agenda was the district’s sex education curriculum and possible future changes.
Yelling, frustrations, and a heated exchange filled the New Hanover County School Board meeting Tuesday night. It comes after the district announced the removal of DEI policies, with some members threatening to eliminate sex education programs.
“You discarded DEI to send a clear message of bigotry and white supremacy,” screamed one upset parent.
But as you might expect, not everyone is on the same page.
“I would like to express my complete support that the board is opting for the My Life curriculum as the opt-in program and removing all non-heterosexual sex education from the family life training,” Natosha Tew said.
The division is deep, and the debate is far from over. Tew was heckled from the podium, screaming, ‘I could care less,’ to parents as she walked back to her seat.
The school board came to a 5-2 vote to combine two middle school sex ed programs- My Life, which promotes abstinence, and Stepping Stones, which explores sexual orientation, contraception, and gender roles. The one program will be called Family Life, with changes taking affect the 2025-2026 school year. The board is also giving parents the opt-in the program.
The one Family Life curriculum would include all areas of My Life, in addition to other health-based topics, previously included in Stepping Stones, Contraception, Self-Breast or Testicular exams, Fetal development, Sex Trafficking and abuse.
However, four programs would be removed from the curriculum- one sixth grade lesson, two seventh grade lessons, and one eighth grade
lesson. The changes come after President Trump signed a number of executive orders, pertaining to the LGBTQ+ community.
However, parents aren’t too happy to hear the district is making changes to the sex ed programs.
“Why would they take away an opt-in program that teaches so much,” Adele McMurtrey questioned.
McMurtry is a concerned parent.
“Parents don’t have to take that program if they want. They could have done My Life, which is abstinence-only,” McMurtrey expressed.
Rachel Doll is another concerned parent and pastor at The Table Faith Community.
“Most of the things they pulled in are just health,” Doll said.
The two worry that changing the curriculum will allow students to bully gay students.
“Why are we changing it at all? If we truly believe in parental choice, why are we changing what’s already in place and has worked successfully for decades,” McMurtrey questioned.
