A State Board of Education resolution to spike new health education standards failed in a 5-2 Tuesday evening vote along party lines, shutting down an effort by conservatives to halt certain subjects in sex education from being offered in Michigan classrooms.

The resolution by the board's two Republican members sought to stop the proposed new standards from moving forward to the next steps, which include revisions following public comment, another presentation to the Democratic-controlled board and a final vote. The failed vote leaves the same process in place, and the standards will be approved or rejected at a later date. Democrat Tiffany Tilley of West Bloomfield was absent.

More than 60 people signed up to speak to the board, both in person and online, during the public comment period. The majority were against the standard changes.

But many parents and the two conservative board members, Republicans Tom McMillin of Auburn Hills and Nikki Snyder of Goodrich, said sex education was being "woven" into the health standards so all children, in the end, would receive it.

McMillin particularly took issue with proposed standards within sex education around gender identity and sexual orientation.

But Board President Pamela Pugh, D-Saginaw, criticized the significant amount of misinformation she said had been circulating in the public and that was coming from some state board members about the standards.

"I am outraged that misinformation is being weaponized to frighten parents," Pugh said.

Many opponents who spoke during public comment said they were speaking against the standards because students and families should be able to opt out of sex education. But they will still be able to opt out, Pugh said. Others said the board was usurping state law. That's not the case, Pugh said.

"It is very clear that parent rights, local control and transparency remain fully intact in the proposed standards," she said. "Parents continue to have the right to review materials to opt their child out of any sex education lesson without penalty."

Officials: Standards don't shift state law

Changing the standards does not change state law, Michigan Department of Education Deputy Superintendent Diane Golzynski said in an interview.

"We don't set state law," Golzynski said. "Legislators set state law. We only set standards. And the standards are set to help local districts choose the curriculum that they want to use."

Teaching sex education is not required in Michigan, she said. Districts can opt out entirely. If a district chooses to offer sex education, parents can opt their children out of the program. Students can opt themselves out if they are 18 years or older.

Districts also choose their own health and sex education curriculum. The standards, Golzynski said, are "recommendations" and best practices to help districts select a curriculum.

If districts do teach sex education, under the current standards and the proposed new ones, they would still have to follow state law, which requires sex education to focus on abstinence and cannot include lessons on abortion. All districts are required to teach about HIV, regardless of whether they teach sex education. They would have to have a local sex education advisory board and must notify parents ahead of a sex education lesson. Parents also reserve the right to review all materials that will be used in the class.

The controversy came as the new sex education standards are included under the umbrella of the new health education standards, which include subjects like substance abuse, decision-making, balanced eating, mental and emotional health, and healthy relationships.

The sections on sex education, now being called "sexual health," have always been included under the health standards umbrella, at least since 2007, Golzynski said, when the standards were last updated.

Gender identity standards under fire

Under the sexual orientation standard, the proposed recommendations for grades 6-8 regarding gender identity and sexual orientation, which all fall under the opt-out option, read:

•Define gender identity, gender expression and sexual orientation, and explain that they are distinct components of every individual's identity.

•Explain how biological sex, gender identity and gender expression are distinct concepts and how they interact with each other.

•Explain that romantic, emotional, and/or sexual attractions can be toward an individual of the same gender and/or different gender(s), and that attractions can change over time.

"That is a belief," McMillin said. "We are instructing beliefs and ideology."

The GOP former state lawmaker also said he believed the standards to be unconstitutional, despite other states having the same language, and that it opened school districts and the states to litigation.

Pugh called the standards "glossary-level definitions" to help students understand terms they will hear anyway.

The state held an open public comment period over the last month, collecting feedback online. Golzynski said the feedback came from opponents and supporters.

"It's really all over the board, as we expected," she said. "We have a large number of responses that are based on that misinformation."

Some confused the standards with a proposed House bill, Golzynski said, or said they were otherwise changing the law or "embedding" sex education into health education to make it a graduation requirement, none of which is true.

"And then we've got all of those that are, 'Please pass these, our current ones are so outdated they don't make any sense. I'm a teacher trying to teach health ed, and I need these standards,'" Golzynski said.

Conservative groups, including Moms for Liberty and Citizens for Traditional Values, put out calls to parents to show up at Tuesday's meeting or call in for public comment.

"You will not be able to opt your child out of this curriculum," the Citizens for Traditional Values website said of the proposed standards.

Several parents reacted strongly to the possibility during public comment and called the new standards "indoctrination."

Billie Schultz of Southgate said she uses the opt-out option for her child.

"Under these new standards, that right can be taken away," Schultz said.

Public schools, she said, "should welcome all families, not make them feel like they have to leave because of their beliefs."

"Not every child is ready or mature enough for some of the topics that are being labeled as health education," she said.

Sheila Cohoon of Clinton Township said she had pulled her child out of public schools because of "all of this nonsense around gender." She predicted more would follow suit if the new standards are approved.

"You will see a mass exodus that you have never seen before," Cohoon said. "Keep your politics out of my kid's mind."

Others in the crowd spoke in favor of the changes, saying they were badly needed updates to the standards.

Taryn Gal, executive director of the Michigan Organization on Adolescent Sexual Health, said she has sat on two school district advisory boards for sex education, half of the members of which must be parents.

"I've seen firsthand how health education decisions are made in the state, which is with transparency, parent involvement and community input at every step," Gal said.

The standards not being updated since 2007, she said, "means that an entire generation of students has gone through school using outdated guidance that does not reflect what we now know about mental health, technology, vaping, healthy relationships, consent, among many other topics."

Al Craven, a retired health education teacher from Stockbridge, said he saw the difference honest health and sex education can make.

He said he once taught a lesson on the normalness of "nocturnal emissions" for boys during puberty. One boy came up to him afterward and said, "I thought there was something the matter with me."

"We seem unable or unwilling to help our young people with their growth or development," Craven said.

_______

©2025 www.detroitnews.com. Visit at detroitnews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.