Peoria Standard

Astoria Community Unit School District 1 in Fulton County won’t be teaching the state’s new controversial sex education curriculum, despite protests the lessons are “obscene and fail to align with community standards.”

The Astoria Community Unit School District 1, which teaches 295 students, reported it has opted out of teaching the new curriculum, which includes lessons about masturbation starting in Grade 3.

There were one school district which did not reply to a query about if it would opt out of teaching the curriculum or said it would wait to make a decision.

The curriculum was criticized by Republicans as “outrageous” and “perverted” while advocates claimed it would safely teach students about things they’re already learning on the internet.

Out of Illinois’ 852 school districts, 520 have opted out of teaching the lessons, leaving students with no sex education lessons at all.

School districts can’t normally opt out of teaching part of a curriculum. However, the sex education bill signed by the Illinois governor included the opportunity for school districts to opt out of teaching the curriculum if they were opposed to the teaching. Some school districts have opted out of teaching the curriculum for certain grades.

Individual school data was gathered by grassroots organization Awake, IL.

School District	Number of Students	Decision
Astoria Community Unit School District 1	295	Opting Out
Canton Union School District 66	2,181	Opting Out
Fulton County Community Unit School District 3	390	Opting Out
Lewistown Community Unit School District 97	587	No Response
Spoon River Valley Community Unit School District 4	282	Opting Out
V.I.T. Community Unit School District 2	327	Opting Out