Peoria Standard

Bartonville School District 66 in Peoria 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 Bartonville School District 66, which teaches 291 students, reported it has opted out of teaching the new curriculum, which includes lessons about masturbation starting in Grade 3.

There were 10 school districts 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
Bartonville School District 66	291	Opting Out
Brimfield Community Unit School District 309	640	No Response
Dunlap Community Unit School District 323	4,577	Opting Out
Elmwood Community Unit School District 322	617	No Response
Farmington Central Community Unit School District 265	1,204	Opting Out
Hollis Consolidated School District 328	131	No Response
Illini Bluffs Community Unit School District 327	866	Opting Out
Illinois Valley Central Unit School District 321	2,028	Opting Out
Limestone Community High School District 310	920	No Response
Limestone Walters Community Consolidated School District 316	197	No Response
Monroe School District 70	298	Opting Out
Norwood Elementary School District 63	393	No Response
Oak Grove School District 68	264	No Response
Peoria Heights Community Unit School District 325	737	No Response
Peoria School District 150	12,408	Waiting
Pleasant Hill School District 69	189	Opting Out
Pleasant Valley School District 62	453	No Response
Princeville Community Unit School District 326	692	Opting Out