In most communities, the school board has the final say over the curriculum used for sex education. School board members are usually elected officials. They need community support to keep them in office, and are there to represent your concerns.
Create an action plan and a set of consistent messages to present to your school board.
- Meet with and organize parents and community members. Divide responsibilities and set deadlines.
- Create a set of consistent messages, including the specific sex education curriculum you are asking for. See Lambda Legal’s “Resources” for organizations that have evaluated curricula.
Meet with school board members individually.
- Bring parents and coalition members. Consider taking supportive students.
- Express your concerns with abstinenceonly curricula, and explain how real sex education will benefit students and the community.
- After the meeting, follow-up with a letter emphasizing that real fact-based education is the way to go. If possible, draw on the individual board member’s views about education.
Attend school board meetings.
- Use the “open microphone” time to express your concerns.
Provide testimony.
- School board meeting agendas are usually pre-set, and the voting process often has two stages — a discussion and “community comments” period at one meeting, and a vote at a subsequent meeting.
- Consider testifying in a shorter format and submitting a longer version of your testimony to each member of the board for inclusion in the meeting’s record. See Lambda Legal’s “Sample Letter/Testimony.”
Follow-up with school board members
- After the initial meeting to address any of their concerns and encourage them to vote for real sex education.