Published May 28, 2020

By JILLIAN STRING

NORTH READING — Superintendent Dr. Patrick Daly and the members of the School Committee made the decision to postpone the annual viewing of the human sexuality film for grade five students this academic year.

“In meeting with our health teachers and principals across the district, we feel that this is a very delicate topic, and one that is best presented face-to-face,” Daly said during the board’s virtual meeting on May 18.

The new film, called “Growing Up,” was viewed for the first time during the 2018-19 school year, and discusses topics such as the human body, changes that occur during puberty, acne, and the need for deodorant.

Daly stated that fifth-grade students will view the film next year as sixth-graders.

“There is nothing that mandates when this needs to be taught,” Daly explained. “We are, at the secondary level, going to focus on healthy relationships, and not as much on the human sexuality component this spring, and for the fifth grade, the idea is that we would just move that unit to the sixth grade.”

According to Daly, a letter will be going home to parents to explain the changes in the remote learning plan.

Health teachers will be available to share resources with parents, Daly added.

“There are certainly fifth-graders who are very much ready for this information now, and need some of the information over the summer, and so we will have those resources available,” Daly added.

School Committee members supported the idea of waiting until the 2020-21 school year to show the film.

“It makes sense. It does seem like a difficult subject to do in a remote learning situation,” School Committee member Rich McGowan stated.

Committee Vice Chairman Janene Imbriano noted that it is a touchy subject that some students handle better than others, and agreed that it should be a face-to-face discussion.

“As a parent of a fifth-grader, I appreciate the proposal because I think it makes a lot of sense and puts my mind at ease for me personally, as well as probably a lot of parents,” committee member Dyana Boutwell said.

Committee Chairman Scott Buckley stated that he also has a fifth-grade student and was happy that he did not have to be the one to share the video.