Despite the opposition of the former president of the school board, public schools in Merrill, Wisconsin, have approved a comprehensive sexual education program, in this case called Human Growth and Development.

Via WJFW TV-12:

The Merrill School Board along with community members expressed their viewpoints on teaching human growth and development by conforming to Wisconsin’s new sex education statute.

In a five to four vote the school board voted Wednesday night to opt in and teach human growth and development in the Merrill School District this year.

Before the board voted to opt in, they voted 6 to 3, to also have a defined and reviewable curriculum for parents to see 45 days prior to the start of class.

Merrill needs to change its current human growth and development curriculum because it does not meet the new state law which adds teaching protective behaviors, with abstinence being the preferred and best method of preventing unwanted pregnancies and STD’s.

The debate over sex ed in Merrill became exceptionally heated at the end of August, when the former president of the school board advocated that the district needs to stick to abstinence-only education because doing nothing would prevent the district from “screwing up.”

Wisconsin’s new Healthy Youth Act requires all public schools to teach comprehensive, fact-based, age appropriate sex ed to their students.