Health Education Standards?

Over the past seven years, the Nebraska Department of Education has developed standards in the content areas of English/language arts, mathematics and science, which are assessed statewide and required by statute.

Although not required by law, fine arts, physical education, health education and world languages standards have also been developed.

David Jespersen, from the Nebraska Department of Education Public Information Office, told the Observer concerning the standards, "I can't speak for the commissioner on this one, but it is fair to say this standard process has been one of the most challenging that we have seen."

And the challenge continues with the most recent standards written – the highly debated health standards.

The proposed Nebraska Health Education Standards have received a lot of attention across the state in recent months. What most people don't understand is that they are not all about sex education. Just one of the eight standards introduces information about human growth and development. In contrast, the remaining other standards intend to educate students on injury prevention and safety, disease prevention, substance abuse prevention, and other health-related behaviors.

The Health Education Standards have not been adopted by the State Board of Education, and according to Jespersen, "The second draft of the proposed standards are being revised right now, and we should be releasing those for public comment very soon. The NDE welcomes all comments, and we encourage everyone to read Draft 2 for themselves and provide feedback."

The public information office representative, Jespersen, explained how the process works: "School districts actually have the requirement right now to have a set of standards for health. NDE is developing statewide standards to help districts fulfill that requirement. The health standards would be optional. A school could adopt all of the state standards, use some of the standards as their own, or completely use their own. This is the method for many of the standards; however, all public schools and any accredited private school must use state standards in reading, writing, mathematics, science, and social studies unless they show they have standards that are more rigorous."

Locally, on Monday, July 12, the Kimball school board exercised patience to let the process play out. The health standards philosophy was discussed but realizing they were under no obligation or requirement to adopt them, and the issue was simply addressed. 

Meanwhile, the Potter-Dix and Sidney school boards quickly put their stamp of disapproval on the unfinished draft. The Sidney and Potter-Dix boards voted 6-0 to approve a resolution opposing the health standards.

Potter-Dix Superintendent Adam Patrick responded to an email from the Observer, saying, "My understanding is this is the first time the state has undertaken health standards. Therefore, Potter-Dix does not currently have health standards."

Potter-Dix Public Schools released a statement emphasizing "parents and guardians are the primary educators of their own children" and "the district will not adopt or utilize the Health Education Standards proposed by the Nebraska Department of Education."

According to Jespersen, "The Nebraska State Board of Education is the final voice in accepting the health standards. Keep in mind that the health education standards are voluntary for districts, though. All 244 districts and all private schools will have the final say on whether or not they adopt the state standards if/when passed by the State Board. The only requirement is that every district has some set of standards."

The State School Board is composed of eight members. Robin Stevens represents the western half of the state of Nebraska, which is District 7.

The Observer asked Stevens if he was shocked when he first read the standards.

"Shocked ... no.," he replied. "Let me explain. I was a superintendent at Schyler for 13 years. One of many things I learned was that surprises/shocks were part of the business. That was good training for this sort of thing. You never know what is ahead. When a person places his/her name on the dotted line, you better understand such important issues such as the proposed hjealth education standards are just over the horizon. Please understand, this does not reduce the importance of this issue. But it does tell you – you need to have a decision-making process in place. NDE has such a process. This is why I have been consistent in my message about letting the process proceed."

Stevens confirmed that nothing is finalized. He said, "I am projecting the second draft will be available to the public the first or second week in August. It is important to remember the process will proceed with public input before any draft (social studies standards had three drafts) is voted on by the state board. Regardless of when the SBOE approves the health standards, local public and private schools will have the option to reject and create their own, accept parts of the standards they agree with or accept the standards as written."

The health standards, along with all the other content standards, can be found on the Nebraska Department of Education website.