The Fayette County school system may add more parent and student members to the committee evaluating new health and physical education textbooks, in response to recent allegations that the current committee’s composition is inadequate.
During the Board of Education’s March 5 work session, Superintendent Joseph Barrow Jr. said that “there was no conspiracy there; we took the people who volunteered,” and added that the county’s attorney found no irregularities based on state requirements.
The contention centers on whether the county should choose new materials that provide more comprehensive pregnancy and disease prevention information to middle and high schoolers, rather than keep the abstinence-only program that has been used for years. Parents from each school feeder pattern are already represented on the committee, and Barrow said he prefers that any new committee members continue the process that has already started in order to stay on schedule for having new textbooks when the new school year begins.
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