Thames Valley to teach 2015 sex-ed curriculum until new teaching material arrives

With less than a month before classes resume, the Thames Valley District School Board (TVDSB) says it intends to continue teaching the 2015 sex-ed curriculum until the board receives teaching materials related to the older sex-ed curriculum. 

“As soon as the government does provide that information for the new curriculum, then we will communicate that information to our staff, students, and family members as well,” said Riley Culhane, associate director at the TVDSB.

A spokeswoman for the Ontario Public School Boards’ Association said Thursday that other boards across the problem have yet to receive material from the Progressive Conservative government.

“This is definitely a time of uncertainty for the TVDSB,” Culhane said.

“But we want to reassure everyone that regardless of the changes that will be made to the curriculum, it’s the board’s responsibility to ensure respect and safety for all of our students,” he said.

The government announced last month that it would scrap the modernized version of the curriculum made in 2015 and temporarily reinstate an older version last updated in 1998 while it conducts consultations on the document’s future.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the Minister of Education said boards would get materials and instructions “in the near future” but wouldn’t elaborate.