Peoria Standard

Metamora Community Consolidated School District 1 in Woodford 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 Metamora Community Consolidated School District 1, which teaches 780 students, reported it has opted out of teaching the new curriculum, which includes lessons about masturbation starting in Grade 3.

There were three 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
El Paso-Gridley Community Unit School District 11	1,158	Opting Out
Eureka Community Unit School District 140	1,441	Opting Out
Fieldcrest Community Unit School District 6	878	Opting Out
Germantown Hills School District 69	809	Opting Out
Lowpoint Washburn Community Unit School District 21	306	No Response
Metamora Community Consolidated School District 1	780	Opting Out
Riverview Consolidated Community School District 2	215	No Response
Roanoke-Benson Community Unit School District 60	432	No Response