West Cook News

Thirty-five school districts in West Cook are divided on conforming to Illinois’ new law that aligns sex education policies for grades K-12 with national standards.

In West Cook as of June 18, nine of its school districts said they would opt out of the provisions for younger children, while three districts are adopting the sex-ed policy and 23 have yet to report a decision. The new law, which the state Legislature passed in the form of Senate Bill 818, allows districts to either opt out or adopt the sex education policies for younger children contained in the new law.

During discussions about the new policy in the Legislature, Republicans criticized the plan as being too explicit for young children. Among other provisions, sixth-graders would be expected to define phrases such as oral sex and anal sex, while third-graders would be taught to understand the act of masturbation.

Sex education advocates, however, say the new law won’t result in drastic changes for school districts since it backs up what many schools are already doing in the area of sex education.

The Catholic Conference of Illinois opposed SB 818 when it was being considered by the Legislature, arguing that although the plan offers parents an opt-out provision, many parents won’t be aware of their options. The provisions inappropriately call on fifth-graders to understand sexual orientation issues and for eighth-graders to describe how to put on a condom correctly, according to the Catholic Conference.

GOP gubernatorial frontrunner Darren Bailey, a state senator, has also come out strongly against the sex-education revisions. 

“Students in the second grade may soon be required to identify consent, gender identity and reproduction, while fourth- and fifth-graders would have to define different types of sex,” Bailey said in a prepared statement. “The bill is obscene and fails to align with community standards.” 

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Local School District Decisions on New Sex-ed Policy

School District	Positions on Sex-ed Standards
Bellwood School District 88	Waiting or no response
Berkeley School District 87	Waiting or no response
Berwyn North School District 98	Waiting or no response
Berwyn South School District 100	Waiting or no response
Brookfield Lagrange Park School District 95	Opting out
Cicero School District 99	Waiting or no response
Elmwood Park Community Unit School District 401	Waiting or no response
Forest Park School District 91	Opting out
Franklin Park School District 84	Waiting or no response
Hillside School District 93	Waiting or no response
J S Morton High School District 201	Opting out
Komarek School District 94	Opting out
La Grange School District 102	Opting out
La Grange School District 105 South	Opting out
Lagrange Highlands School District 106	Opting out
Leyden Consolidated High School District 212	Adopting
Lindop School District 92	Waiting or no response
Lyons School District 103	Waiting or no response
Lyons Township High School District 204	Adopting
Mannheim School District 83	Waiting or no response
Maywood-Melrose Park-Broadview 89	Waiting or no response
Oak Park - River Forest School District 200	Waiting or no response
Oak Park Elementary School District 97	Waiting or no response
Proviso Township High School District 209	Waiting or no response
Rhodes School District 84-5	Opting out
River Forest School District 90	Waiting or no response
River Grove School District 85-5	Opting out
Riverside School District 96	Adopting
Riverside-Brookfield Township School District 208	Waiting or no response
Schiller Park School District 81	Waiting or no response
Westchester School District 92-5	Waiting or no response
Western Springs School District 101	Waiting or no response

Source: LGIS News Service