EUGENE, Ore. -- The Eugene School District 4J board is finally addressing a controversial sex-ed assignment given at Churchill High School, but many parents and community members are still outraged despite the response from the district.
Earlier in March, a suggestive assignment that was given to some students at Churchill High School came to light, and many parents were outraged by its content. The assignment involved writing out a sexual fantasy involving props but no penetration, and said it was intended to show how one could experience physical love without sex. Also reported was an assignment where students were asked to spin a wheel labeled with various sex acts. They would then allegedly have to write the initials of a boy or girl they would do that sex act with.
While the district said students were allowed to opt out of the assignment, parents were still outraged. At the school board meeting in the evening of Wednesday, March 15, superintendent Andy Dey addressed concerns about the assignments. Dey said that at the 4J District they have long-standing traditions of prioritizing academic freedom with effective administrative oversight. However, in this case, he said there were failures in this particular instance.
“What I can share in the following initial internal review we can identify shortcomings that allow for the delivery of this lesson, one that the district does not recommend be delivered again,” Dey said. “To be clear, the teacher did not create that lesson himself. The assignment in question is pulled directly from the 'Our Whole Lives' sexuality education course for grades 10-12.”
Dey also addressed the spinning wheel assignment, saying rumors of such an assignment are unsubstantiated.
“There are additional rumors of spinning wheels with salacious acts that have not been substantiated or reflected in the materials the teachers used,” he said.
There was an uproar from people at the meeting after Dey made this comment, and they were asked to quiet down. Dey went on to say that they confirmed an online virtual randomizer wheel with sex acts on it. He said this came with more information on page 172 of the Our Whole Lives manual.
Despite these words from the superintendent, parents were still outraged by this assignment, and they expressed that outrage during the public comment section of the meeting.
“We should be focusing on academic readiness in our classes instead of asking our students to describe their sexual fantasies to our teachers. There is no excuse for this kind of sexually explicit assignment,” one said.
“Imagine being a child in a classroom amongst your peers. Imagine you're a child that is actively being abused or has previously been abused and is asked to go through with these assignments. If this is considered inappropriate for having conversations with minors, who deems this as school appropriate?” another asked.
“This sexual deviant needs to be removed. If you do not remove him, I'm giving you my word today that tomorrow morning, I will talk to the county clerk's office and I will file for the removal of every single one of you,” yet another said.
There were several similar comments made in response to the board at the rowdy meeting. The public comments were followed by board discussion on several meeting items, including more on that assignment at Churchill. Some board members issued their own apologies to parents in the audience that their students had to endure those particular assignments.
KEZI 9 News spoke to students at Churchill High School to get their thoughts on the situation, as well as learn more about what the school is doing to address it. Tune in at 4, 5 and 6 p.m. to hear more.
