On Dec. 10, five new members were sworn in to serve four-year terms on the School Board of the City of Virginia Beach starting in 2025. The new members are as follows:
Materials Related to Policy 6-11
In April of 2022, Virginia Legislation passed Senate Bill 656. This bill states:
The Department (Virginia Department of Education) shall develop and make available to each school board model policies for ensuring parental notification of any instructional material that includes sexually explicit content and include information, guidance, procedures, and standards relating to:
- Ensuring parental notification;
- Directly identifying the specific instructional material and sexually explicit subjects; and
- Permitting the parent of any student to review instructional material that includes sexually explicit content and provide, as an alternative, nonexplicit instructional material and related academic activities to any student whose parent so requests.
In response, Virginia Beach City Public Schools drafted Policy 6-11 which mirrors the model policy proposed by the VDOE.
The Department of Teaching and Learning, in collaboration with classroom teachers and literacy coaches, have identified material available as either a textbook resource or a supplemental resource as potentially containing sexually explicit content as identified by Senate Bill 656. This is not to be interpreted as a complete or final list. As teachers, specialists, and families discover additional titles that should be included, they may use the procedures in Regulation 6-61.2.
VA Senate Bill 656 Instructional Materials
The following texts have been identified as having some element of sexually explicit content as defined by VA State Senate Bill 656. The following list is not perceived to be a comprehensive list and continues to be added to as additional texts are identified meeting the criteria of Bill 656.
Course Title | Title and Author | |
---|---|---|
Grades K-5 All Subjects |
Not applicable. | |
English 6 Honors/Core | ||
Grade 7 Honors/Core |
N/A | |
English 8 Honors/Core |
Z for Zachariah, O'Brien To Kill a Mockingbird, Lee The Diary of Anne Frank, Frank |
Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl, Frank (dramatic version for Core) |
English 9 Honors/Core | To Kill a Mockingbird, Lee Cold Sassy Tree, Burns Everything, Everything, Yoon |
Romeo and Juliet (graphic novel), Shakespeare House on Mango Street, Cisneros |
English 10 Honors/Core | Ready Player One, Cline | Siddhartha, Hesse |
English 11 Honors/Core | Black Boy, Wright The Color of Water, McBride The Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck A Lesson Before Dying, Gaines The Things They Carried, O’Brien |
Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston As I Lay Dying, Faulkner A Farewell to Arms, Hemingway The Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck Invisible Man, Ellison |
English 11 Advanced Placement | The Boys of Summer, Kahn The Glass Castle, Walls The Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Skloot |
Invisible Man, Ellison Moveable Feast, Hemingway On the Road, Kerouac Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurstonz |
English 12 Honors/Core | 1984, Orwell Brave New World, Huxley Felicia's Journey, Trevor Girl with a Pearl Earring, Chevalier The Razor's Edge, Maugham Richard III, Shakespeare |
Tess of the d'Urbervilles, Hardy A Thousand Splendid Suns, Hosseini The Stranger, Camus The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer Sir Gwain and the Green Knight, Chaucer |
Advanced Placement Grade 12 | The Americans, James The Bluest Eye, Morrison The Handmaid's Tale, Atwood Invisible Man, Ellison One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Kesey |
Sons and Lovers, Lawrence The Stranger, Camus Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston Wide Sargasso Sea, Rhys |
Media Studies Grade 11 | Media Studies & Culture, Campbell, Martin, Fabos | (Criteria: Chapter 9, p. 309-310) |
Health Sciences Academy Hereditary Medicine Grades 11-12 | Thompson & Thompson Genetics in Medicine, Nussbaum, McInnes, Willard | (Criteria: There are nude images as they relate to chromosomal disorders) |
Art I: Foundations Grades 9-12 | The Visual Experience, Jack Hobbs, Richard Salome, and Ken Vieth | (Criteria: The Visual Experience by Jack Hobbs, Richard Salome, and Ken Vieth) |
Art II: 2D Approaches Grades 9-12 | Basic Printmaking Techniques, Bernard Toale Discovering Drawing, Ted Rose and Sallye Mahan-Cox | (Criteria: Nudity on Page 2, 19, and 70) (Criteria: Nudity on pages: 80 and 177) |
Art II: 3D Approaches Grades 9-12 | Beginning Sculpture, Arthur Williams Crafts Contemporary Design and Techniques Experience Clay, Maureen Mackey | (Criteria: Nudity on pages: 17. 46, 95, and 197) (Criteria: Nudity on page: 50) (Criteria: Nudity on page: 2) |
AP Art History Grades 10-12 | Gardner's Art Through the Ages, Fred Kleiner | (Criteria: Nudity throughout the textbook that relates to the history of art) |
HSA Physiology and Pathophysiology II Grade 12 | Understanding Pathophysiology 4th edition | (Criteria: Chapter 31: Structure and Function of the Reproductive Systems. Pages 821 – 847 contains anatomical frontal views and cross-sectional, labeled pictures and diagrams of the anatomy of the male reproductive system, female reproductive system, and a cross-section of the female breast. All diagrams and pictures are standard anatomical images used in human anatomy and physiology textbooks across college curriculums. Chapter 32: Alterations of the Reproductive System pages 849 – 907 contains text and medical images outlining various disorders of the female reproductive system, male reproductive system, disorders of the breast, and sexually transmitted infections.) |
HSA Forensic Medicine I & II Grades 10-12 | Our textbook for HSA Forensic Medicine does not contain anything that contains that criteria. | (Criteria: We do have various units where sadomasochistic abuse, as also defined in § 18.2-390, coprophilia, urophilia, or fetishism might have to be defined and briefly discussed as part of the forensic medicine course. These units and topics include:
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HSA Medical Microbiology Grades 11-12 | Microbiology: An introduction 8th edition | (Criteria: Chapter 26: Microbial Diseases of the Urinary and Reproduction Systems. Pages 741 – 761. Chapter includes medical illustrations of the male and female reproductive system consistent with a college curriculum. The rest of the chapter contains short descriptions of microbes and the diseases they cause in the urinary and reproductive system. There are five black and white and color images of various organs, cells, and tissues in the reproductive system displaying clinically significant signs and symptoms of specific diseases of the reproductive system (inflamed urethra, PID, a chancre, vesicles, and warts.) |
HSA Physiology & Pathophysiology I Grade 11 | Understanding Pathophysiology 4th edition | (Criteria: Contains diagrams/pictures of male and female anatomy as it relates to various diseases and genetic disorders) |
HSA Introduction to Health Occupations Grade 9 | Health Science Fundamentals | (Criteria: Structure and Function of the Reproductive Systems. contains anatomical views of male and female anatomy, labeled pictures and diagrams of the anatomy of the male reproductive system, female reproductive system, and the female breast. All diagrams and pictures are standard anatomical images used in human anatomy and physiology textbooks across college curriculums. Also contains text and medical images outlining various disorders of the female reproductive system, male reproductive system, disorders of the breast, and sexually transmitted infections as well as related careers related to the Reproductive Systems.
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HSA Human Anatomy Grade 10 | Hole's Essentials of Human Anatomy and Physiology | (Criteria: Contains diagrams/pictures of male and female anatomy as it relates to structure and function) |
Anatomy and Sports Injury Grades 11-12 | Principles of Athletic Training and Trail Guide of the Human Body | (Criteria: Contains diagrams/pictures of male and female anatomy as it relates to structure, function and sports related injuries) |
Psychology Grades 9-12 | https://openstax.org/books/psychology-2e, Speilman, et al. Psychology: Principles in Practice, Rathus & Spencer Flowers for Algernon; Daniel Keyes | (Criteria: This textbook discusses sexual behavior and motivations, sexual excitement, orgasms, gender identity, and psychological disorders involving sexual behavior. Discusses sexual behaviors, motivations, the biology and psychology of sexual excitement, sexual disorders. |
AP Psychology Grades 10-12 | Psychology -- 1th Edition, Myers & Dewall | Criteria: Discusses sexual behaviors, motivations, the biology and psychology of sexual excitement, sexual disorders.) |
Parenting & Early Learning Careers Grades 11-12 | Child Development: Early Stages through Age 12, Goodheart-Wilcox | (Criteria: This is a high school class for 11th and 12th graders and is an elective. The course covers conception and childbirth. There is a pretty graphic birthing video that is shown in addition to what might be in the book. That video requires parents to “opt in” and students only view it with a signed permission slip. Chapters 6 & 7 are the most relevant to this discussion. |