New York City officials have long delayed implementing changes that would ensure all students receive the same basic health education, including comprehensive sexual education, across schools, lawmakers said on Wednesday.
According to city estimates, just 58% of public middle school students in the nation’s largest school district receive the 54 hours of health education required by the state. By comparison, approximately 99.7% of public high school students meet the state’s health education mandate, according to officials.
While state law requires all New York school districts to offer health education from kindergarten through 12th grade — covering topics such as substance abuse and AIDS — comprehensive sexual health education is not part of this requirement. However, the city’s public schools are required to offer sex ed beyond the state-mandated AIDS curriculum for students in grades six through 12.
At a City Hall hearing on Wednesday, elected officials expressed frustration over years of requests for information on how sex ed is being taught across the city’s five boroughs, with little to show for it. The last report from a sexual education task force, complete with recommendations for improvement, was presented to city public schools in 2018.
The task force’s recommendations included requiring certified, qualified health instructors to teach health education and enhancing accountability and reporting on sexual health education.
“Providing this education in our schools can help ensure that as many youth as possible in our city have the tools to protect themselves,” said Councilmember Farah Louis of Brooklyn, who also chairs the committee on women and gender equity.
City officials, during the oversight hearing, attributed the district’s failure to meet these long-standing recommendations to recent budget constraints and the challenges posed by remote and hybrid learning during the pandemic.
“We are passionate, thoughtful and focused on the work ahead to ensure all New York City public school students are receiving high-quality health education that meets New York state education requirements,” said Despina Zaharakis, the senior executive director of the school of school wellness programs at NYC Public Schools.
Elected officials also introduced several resolutions aimed at ensuring state sexual education requirements are met in the city’s schools. The measures would included adding lessons on human trafficking and human sexuality.
Neither the mayor’s nor the governor’s offices immediately responded to requests for comment.
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