McHenry Times

Harrison School District 36 in McHenry 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 Harrison School District 36, which teaches 362 students, reported it has opted out of teaching the new curriculum, which includes lessons about masturbation starting in Grade 3.

There were five 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
Alden Hebron School District 19	369	Waiting
Cary Community Consolidated School District 26	2,280	Opting Out
Community High School District 155	5,674	Opting Out
Crystal Lake Community Consolidated School District 47	7,006	Opting Out
Fox River Grove Consolidated School District 3	384	Waiting
Harrison School District 36	362	Opting Out
Harvard Community Unit School District 50	2,561	No Response
Huntley Community School District 158	8,776	Opting Out
Johnsburg Community Unit School District 12	1,678	Opting Out
Marengo Community High School District 154	657	No Response
Marengo-Union Elementary Consolidated District 165	977	Opting Out
McHenry Community Consolidated School District 15	4,062	Opting Out
McHenry Community High School District 156	2,146	No Response
Nippersink School District 2	1,051	Opting Out
Prairie Grove Community School District 46	680	Opting Out
Richmond-Burton Community High School District 157	580	Opting Out
Riley Community Consolidated School District 18	258	Opting Out
Woodstock Community Unit School District 200	6,001	Opting Out