You’ve been asking…
We have had a number of our families ask whether or not TRA would be required to teach Comprehensive Sexual Education if the current bill going through the WA State House of Representatives passes. The short answer is No. The longer answer is below and we hope these resources will help you in making an informed decision regarding your child's whole-person education.
What is CSE?
Comprehensive Sexual Education (CSE) is a movement to incorporate sexual education across all grade levels (beginning in Kindergarten) for all state-funded schools. CSE laws have already been passed and implemented in California and Oregon. Washington State has a bill in the House of Representatives (as of February 2020).
Track the progress of Senate Bill 5395 (you can read the bill here)
You might be wondering - well why is this any different than before? Hasn’t the public school always taught sex ed? Yes and no. There are a few notable additions included in this new proposal that have been generating questions from some of our parents. Here are a few of the noteworthy ones:
It would now become mandatory for all public schools - previously the state superintendent left it to individual districts to determine what their schools would teach/not teach specific to sexual education. The new bill makes the previously articulated standards and the timeline for when subjects are to be taught K-12 compulsory for all districts. The Washington State Health Education Standards includes the K-12 timeline.
The new proposal specifies the curriculums that are approved by the state for schools to teach. Previously, districts had the freedom to choose their own curriculum as long as it met the minimum Washington State Department of Health Guidelines for Sexual Health Information and Disease Prevention. Here is one example of approved curriculums: 3Rs Lesson Plans . For a list of reviewed and approved curriculum, click here.
What Does The River Academy Do?
As a private school in Washington State, The River Academy is not required to comply with the Comprehensive Sexual Education guidelines. They are only specific to public schools. One of the many benefits of being a private school is that we are free to choose our own curriculum and set our own educational guidelines as long as they conform to a very broad set of standards issued by the state to qualify us as an educational institution.
In light of this freedom, we have chosen not to teach sex ed to our students and instead to allow parents the freedom to take on the subject of sex education with their children. We believe that God has best equipped a child’s parent to decide what is or isn’t appropriate for a particular child to learn and at what age. While we cover the body systems in Biology (10th grade) we do not delve into the reproductive system. We do offer a Sports Medicine elective that includes a section on Sexually Transmitted Diseases as part of the Red Cross certification. This section is only taught with the signed consent of parents. The River Academy desires to partner with parents in this subject area, as in all other subjects. If you have questions or need additional support in teaching your students, we invite you to contact us.
Resources for Parents
We understand that this may be a daunting task for our parents (we feel it too). Here are a few resources some of our families have found helpful over the years.
God’s Design for Sex Series (Encouraging Words can also order them for you if they don’t have them in stock)
The Care and Keeping of You (there is a whole series of books on self concept, hygiene, organizing, etc. in the American Girl collection)
