Sex-ed teaching plan still unknown for Ontario school boards: association says

With less than a month before classes resume, Ontario school boards say they still have not received teaching materials related to the older sex-ed curriculum the province expects them to use this fall.

A spokeswoman for the Ontario Public School Boards’ Association says that to her knowledge, the boards have also not received any instructions on the issue from the Progressive Conservative government.

The government announced last month that it would fulfil its campaign promise to scrap a modernized version of the curriculum – which included warnings about online bullying and sexting – and temporarily reinstate an older version last updated in 1998 while it conducts consultations on the document’s future.

But there has been confusion about what teachers will be expected to teach following conflicting messages from Education Minister Lisa Thompson, who told reporters last month that only a portion of the curriculum would be rolled back, only to reverse course hours later by saying the full document would be scrapped.

A spokesman for the minister said Thursday that school boards would receive instructions and materials “in the near future,” but did not immediately respond when asked whether that would happen before school starts in September.

The previous Liberal government had updated the sex-ed curriculum in 2015.