Waxahachie ISD’s School Health Advisory Council (SHAC) has recommended curriculum materials related to the prevention of child abuse, family violence, dating violence and sex trafficking.
During last week’s monthly SHAC meeting members recommended curriculum from the Monique Burr Foundation, which educates and protects children and teens from bullying, abuse and victimization through various programs.
During a special session of the 87th Texas Legislature last year, lawmakers passed Senate Bill 9, which requires districts to use SHACs to recommend curriculum for those topics. WISD has used a similar process for its human sexuality curriculum.
Previously schools had to provide dating violence awareness presentations, though there was not a curriculum for it.
The SHAC in WISD worked with the Ellis County Children’s Advocacy Center to find the appropriate curriculum, which would be presented to seventh- through 12th-graders. Students would be able to opt out of the curriculum.
SHAC subcommittee members and other district representatives spent the last few weeks exploring different options. Thursday they said they favored the Monique Burr curriculum for several reasons, such as its ability to provide life lessons as well.
“The Monique Burr (curriculum) is more of what we’re used to when we speak of how to present to our students,” said Ginger Robinson, director of educational support and counseling services for WISD. “With videos, interaction and lots of goal setting, it’s not just presenting on these topics that are sometimes pretty heavy for students to deal with. So they incorporate those into teaching the strategies to avoid these things but also in their personal life of how to set goals, to choose friends wisely and things like that.”
Leslie Deen, executive director of the Ellis County Children’s Advocacy Center, said the Monique Burr program covers a variety of topics.
“We had some curriculum that was very heavy on child sex trafficking,” Deen said. “But it didn’t do a good job of covering all of the topics that we wanted. And with dating violence, making sure those aspects are in there. Family violence, just in general child abuse, all different types of child abuse and the child sex trafficking. Monique Burr, because of the way they are addressing the different areas in a general, protective way, it seems to hit all of the areas better than the other curriculums that we found that were much more pointed.”
Some SHAC members said they favored the Monique Burr curriculum because it ties in well with the district’s human sexuality curriculum.
Others said it places an emphasis on making good life choices.
Robinson said another advantage of the Monique Burr curriculum is that it’s only two lessons compared to eight lessons from another curriculum.
The SHAC also recommended continuing with the Choosing the Best curriculum for human sexuality instruction.
Robinson said the Choosing the Best curriculum addresses some of the same topics that will be covered in the Monique Burr curriculum, such as digital safety and dating violence. But she said that curriculum is only available for up to ninth grade.
If approved by the School Board on May 9 both curriculums would be available at the beginning of the 2022-23 school year.
Deen said the advocacy center is working with SHAC’s in other area districts such as Midlothian and Maypearl ISDs to implement similar curriculum.
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