DeKalb Times

Sandwich Community Unit School District 430 in DeKalb 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 Sandwich Community Unit School District 430, which teaches 1,812 students, reported it has opted out of teaching the new curriculum, which includes lessons about masturbation starting in Grade 3.

There were no 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
DeKalb Community Unit School District 428	6,472	Adopting
Genoa-Kingston Community Unit School District 424	1,480	Opting Out
Hiawatha Community Unit School District 426	402	Opting Out
Hinckley-Big Rock Community Unit School District 429	675	Opting Out
Indian Creek School District 425	706	Opting Out
Sandwich Community Unit School District 430	1,812	Opting Out
Somonauk Community Unit School District 432	733	Opting Out
Sycamore Community Unit School District 427	3,533	Opting Out