Notice of Intent to Provide Human Sexuality Instruction
Dear Parent or Guardian of a High School Student:
If your child is enrolled in our high school health class, curriculum for this class includes a unit on human sexuality. The FWISD Board of Education, the district’s School Health Advisory Council, and the Centers for Disease Control have all endorsed this Texas standards-based curriculum.
The focus of these lessons is for the students to learn:
· reproduction, pregnancy, and fetal development concepts, the harmful effects of alcohol, tobacco, and other substances on a fetus, and the significance of body changes during adolescence
· refusal skills and avoidance of unsafe situations, the benefits of abstinence for emotional health, pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease (STD) prevention
· the risks of adolescent sexual activity and the importance of seeking health care
· strategies related to the prevention of communicable and non-communicable diseases and the effectiveness and ineffectiveness of barrier protection and other contraceptive methods including the prevention of STDs, keeping in mind the effectiveness of remaining abstinent until marriage
Instruction for the sexuality unit of our health course will be provided by certified health teachers. These teachers have been provided specific training to ensure that human sexuality is addressed in a professional and sensitive manner. If you wish to review the materials used in this course in advance of this instruction, we encourage you to please do so by contacting either Georgi Roberts or Brooke Sharples in the Health and Physical Education Department at 817-814-2595.
By state law, if you do not want your child to receive the instruction in this unit you may request that your child be excused from health classes during that time. If you select this option, sign the form entitled “Request to Withhold Child from Sexuality Instruction” and return it to your child’s principal as soon as possible. Your child’s health teacher will assign alternative lessons or activities and arrange a place for your child to complete the work outside of the room in which the instruction occurs. Your child will not be subject to any disciplinary action, academic penalty, or any other sanction as a result of this action.
Fort Worth Independent School District
Request to Withhold Child from High School Sexuality Instruction
By signing and returning this form you request that your child not receive instruction on human sexuality.
I request that my child, ______, be excused from the state-approved comprehensive sexuality education unit. I understand that my child will be expected to complete alternative assignments provided by the health teacher. My child attends ______school.
______
Date
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Parent or Guardian’s Name
______
Signature
Return this form to your child’s principal by September 22nd 2017