Carbondale Reporter

Herrin Community Unit School District 4 in Williamson County won’t be teaching the state’s new controversial sex education curriculum, despite protests the lessons are “obscene and fail to align with community standards.”

The Herrin Community Unit School District 4, which teaches 2,321 students, reported it has opted out of teaching the new curriculum, which includes lessons about masturbation starting in Grade 3.

There were two school districts which did not reply to a query about if it would opt out of teaching the curriculum or said it would wait to make a decision.

The curriculum was criticized by Republicans as “outrageous” and “perverted” while advocates claimed it would safely teach students about things they’re already learning on the internet.

Out of Illinois’ 852 school districts, 520 have opted out of teaching the lessons, leaving students with no sex education lessons at all.

School districts can’t normally opt out of teaching part of a curriculum. However, the sex education bill signed by the Illinois governor included the opportunity for school districts to opt out of teaching the curriculum if they were opposed to the teaching. Some school districts have opted out of teaching the curriculum for certain grades.

Individual school data was gathered by grassroots organization Awake, IL.

School District	Number of Students	Decision
Carterville Community Unit School District 5	2,152	No Response
Crab Orchard Community Unit School District 3	476	Opting Out
Herrin Community Unit School District 4	2,321	Opting Out
Johnston City Community Unit School District 1	1,037	Opting Out
Marion Community Unit School District 2	3,706	No Response