Maybe tracking the demise of an important program will give some context as to why trust has been eroded in this district.

Nearly a year ago, on 3/28/23, their were over 59 Written Comments which were mostly in favor of continuing the previous Sex Ed Program within our schools. Because the state supposedly instituted new rules, the District Advisory Council spent most of the Summer in committee work which culminated with a presentation described by public speakers. This is also when there was a dispute between two speakers which ultimately led to the arrest of a DAC Committeewoman who was also a Volunteer of the Year. Has this case been resolved? We don’t know.

The result of this meeting was that there was attention given to the Sex Ed Program for students. At last weeks regular school board meeting, I asked why other South Florida districts were going forward with their Sex Ed Programs and we still had nothing on the website other than to say it is still being reviewed by the State. Dr. Licata responded to my question about why it was in limbo by saying there was a settlement which would address this situation. Unfortunately, there is still no communication about the district’s Sex Ed Program on the District Website.

The DAC spent hours in order to evaluate a program which was ultimately passed by this Board. It appears Broward’s students may once again be deprived of this important resource. It does no good to just say, “The program is currently under review.” If other counties have Sex Ed Programs which are also from the FLASH Curriculum, then why are Broward’s students being denied the program?

This is but one example of volunteers working diligently with the district, but the results of their labor may have been in vain if the Superintendent does not follow through to make sure the program is available now. Time is running out in this school year.