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We support the active engagement of parents in education 

These are three overwhelming issues that our community will hear leading up to the November elections, and we feel it is important to transparently communicate our stance on these: the New Jersey State Learning Standards on Health and Physical Education, the Managing for Equality and Equity in Education amendment, and the Transgender Student Guidance for School Districts policy.

Before we begin, it must be said that we embrace parents who are involved in education. In fact, we’d like to see more parents proactively involved in their child’s academics and our school system. Parental involvement is essential to academic excellence, and we believe in parental rights and that parents should be involved in all aspects of education.

LEARNING STANDARDS ON HEALTH AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION ​

Learning standards are guidance issued by the New Jersey State Board of Education to districts on the subjects that should be taught for each grade from kindergarten to 12th grade. This is different from “curriculum” which is ruled on by local boards of education, and which controls what is taught in our classrooms. Most of the controversy you’ll hear about lies within the Social and Sexual Health section of the guidance, so let’s break it down starting with the core ideas, of which there are three often cited and often controversial topics:

  • The State guidance recommends that by grade 8, “Inclusive schools and communities are accepting of all people and make them feel welcome and included.” A performance expectation is to “Differentiate between gender identity, gender expression and sexual orientation” and develop a plan to promote the dignity and respect for any identification.
  • By the end of grade 8, there is a core concept of, “There are factors that contribute to making healthy decisions about sex.” A performance expectation with this core idea is “Define vaginal, oral, and anal sex.”
  • It also states that “A board of education shall include instruction on the political, economic, and social contributions of persons with disabilities and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people, in an appropriate place in the curriculum of middle school and high school students as part of the district’s implementation of the New Jersey Student Learning Standards.”

Our position: The guidelines are used to prepare curriculum, which is done on a local level by each of New Jersey’s more than 600 school districts, including Marlboro. Our curriculum committees have a long history of getting the job done right, and we have no doubt that they will continue to do so, with the support of the Board of Education (BOE).

We also recognize that what is age appropriate when teaching these subjects is subjective and different for every family. We fully support any parental decision to opt out of any subject within sexual health that may conflict with personal beliefs. Parents know best about what sexual health subjects their kids should learn. The State of New Jersey has a long-standing policy that allows families to opt out of these classes, and Marlboro instituted a policy that was consistent and allowed any parent to opt out of having these subjects taught to their children. We support that approach.

However, what we don’t support is how the board handled the situation. Certain aspects of the sexual health curriculum were ripped out of the classroom and moved to a virtual class that took place in the evening. Most parents did not want this, and their voices were not heard. That decision did not meet the needs of students or the parents who wanted their children to learn the material. We believe that children should be taught in their classrooms, where they learn best.

The battle over this new curriculum guidance is being used to drive political agendas that are fueling a perception that our schools are teaching inappropriate things to students. Enough is enough. New Jersey has more than 600 school districts and there is no evidence that this is happening in any of them, including ours. If we’re elected, we will ensure that this does not change. Make no mistake, we will be diligent and transparent when it comes to sexual health education in our curriculum.

Managing Equality and Equity in Education

Every seven years, the New Jersey State Board of Education is required to update and approve new equity codes. That happened in August 2023, and the new code passed by a narrow margin of 6-5. The controversy in the code mostly centers around using gender neutral labels and prohibiting school districts from segregating sex ed classes based on sex, instead requiring they do it based on gender identity. There were numerous other changes as well. School districts that do not make these changes could be subject to penalties, including a loss of federal and state funding.

Our position: We do not agree with the application of many of these codes to our K-8 district. Gender identity and biological sex are completely different, and at these ages, biological sex should control most decisions. We do not believe that students at this age should compete in sports based on gender identity, nor do we believe that a biological female or male should use an opposite restroom from their biological sex, although if a private facility can be available, we should strive to make it so. We can have inclusive schools without many of these mandates. We also strongly disagree with the state threatening a loss of funding because local school boards do not adopt these policies.

Transgender Guidance for School Districts

New Jersey is one of the most progressive states for LGBQT+ residents and we’re seeing that progressiveness being driven down to the school level, with both positive and negative consequences.

Far and away, the biggest issue you’ll hear about this election season is regarding the MTPS BOE Transgender Student Policy (5756) updates, which are currently in litigation. The revised MTPS policy requires teachers to disclose to a parent if a child is asking to be called a different name, utilize a different bathroom, and so on while in school, regardless of the wishes of the child. Those against the policy changes are perceived as wanting to keep secrets from parents, while those in favor of the policy changes are perceived as endorsing policies that will cause irreparable harm to some transgender children. 

Our position: We fully advocate for parental notification in all aspects of education, especially when those policy decision are in the best interest for all children. This includes a wide range of topics including sexual education and gender identity. We do not disagree with the intent of the MTPS Policy 5756, which is to both notify and involve parents in sensitive issues of gender identity and at the same time opening mechanisms to protect terribly vulnerable kids that may suffer from such parental notification.

We do disagree with how the updated Policy 5756 was conceived and implemented. Our basis for this disagreement: 

  • The policy changes were put forward in response to outside influences, and without meaningful consultation with stakeholders, resulting in major backlash from equal rights groups and teachers.
  • The policy changes were implemented even though the New Jersey Attorney General had already sued another district that implemented similar policy changes, asserting that they were discriminatory. There appears to have been no consideration given to avoiding litigation expenses, even though the district was forced to make deep budget cuts just weeks earlier. We believe that the board has an obligation to spend taxpayer dollars wisely and that by implementing these policies knowing litigation would follow, they breached that duty. The breach was especially egregious because to our knowledge, the unaltered policy had never directly or indirectly negatively affected any Marlboro family.
  • The sensational rhetoric surrounding the policy that was driven by our board, their supporters, and our opponent candidates all combined to create a hostile environment for anyone who chose to speak up either for or against the policy. Marlboro parents and stakeholders could not express their views without fear of repercussions, and our town became the target of protestors for and against the policy changes. Our community deserved better – we are neighbors, friends, and colleagues. We need to work together, or we all fail.
  • The policy updates lacked any concrete guidance on how to identify the terribly vulnerable and put a target on teachers without giving them any resources to implement this policy.

 

While we support parental rights and parental notification after an appropriate risk assessment, we do not support the arrogant approach fueled by outside interests that our current BOE, their supporters, and our opponent candidates endorsed when it enacted a turnkey policy that other boards were using, all of which are still facing tremendous backlash. We also do not support the rhetoric that anyone questioning the policy is “for” keeping secrets from parents, while anyone against the policy is “for” hurting transgender children. Enough is enough. This policy requires diligence, teamwork, understanding, and a more appropriate level of transparency. It needs to be revisited in a way that is not inflammatory, illegal, or discriminatory. It can be done.