East Central Reporter

Cowden-Herrick Community Unit School District 3A in Shelby 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 Cowden-Herrick Community Unit School District 3A, which teaches 316 students, reported it has opted out of teaching the new curriculum, which includes lessons about masturbation starting in Grade 3.

There were no 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
Central A & M Community Unit School District 21	667	Opting Out
Cowden-Herrick Community Unit School District 3A	316	Opting Out
Shelbyville Community Unit School District 4	1,206	Opting Out
Stewardson-Strasburg Community Unit School District 5A	402	Opting Out
Windsor Community Unit School District 1	355	Opting Out