The Parkway School District in Chesterfield, Mo., will not be be teaching misleading, faith-based curriculum in the future after FFRF raised constitutional and health concerns.
A local faith-based organization, Thrive St. Louis, has been teaching sex education in district schools. The group operates “crisis pregnancy centers,” which label themselves as general-purpose medical clinics for pregnant women, but in reality spew fallacious advice and provide services that further a religious agenda. Thrive’s sex education lessons, called “Best Choice,” is made up of scare and shaming tactics to discourage students from using contraception, choosing to have sex or having an abortion — all of which crisis pregnancy centers oppose for purely religious reasons. The group’s employment policy clearly aims to spread Christian dogma.
“It would be inappropriate and irresponsible for a public school district to encourage students to visit a crisis pregnancy center, much less invite such a group to teach sex education,” wrote FFRF Legal Fellow Ryan Jayne in a letter to the Parkway School District on April 7.
On July 31, the district superintendent responded that beginning with the 2017-18 school year, all sexual health instruction would be delivered by the district’s certified health educators.
