Sexual Health and Safety Education

School code requires all Illinois school districts to provide comprehensive health and personal safety education. Our district teaches the following topics according to the Illinois Physical Health and Safety Standards. Insturctional units include the following topics: 

  • Human growth and development
  • Family life, including sexual abstinence until marriage*
  • Prevention, transmission, and spread of STI and disease including AIDS*
  • Age-appropriate sexual abuse and assault awareness and prevention*

* Parent or guardian can notify the school that their child will opt out

Illinois public schools are required by law to provide all students, from Grades Pre-K through 12, with age-appropriate personal safety awareness and prevention education. This program is referred to as Erin’s Law. In compliance with the Erin’s law requirement to provide developmentally sensitive and appropriate training for students, our district’s social workers have carefully developed and delivered lessons that teach our students to understand, identify, and protect themselves from sexual abuse and assault. Classroom teachers have received annual professional development on this topic since the 2013-14 school year. More information about Erin’s Law can be found on this web page: Erin’s Law. 

CUSD 201 will not teach comprehensive sexual education during the 2022-2023 school year. With this clarification, CUSD 201 will continue to use our current sex education units, which align with the Illinois Physical Development and Health Standards for the 2022-2023 school year. Administrators and teachers will carefully examine the Illinois Learning Standards for Comprehensive Personal Health and Safety and Sexual Health Education (National Sex Education Standards). We will review the new standards and potentially modify the high school curriculum for the 2023-2024 school year. We will share the information with our community regarding any curriculum changes before implementing them in the Fall of 2023.

Health and Safety Education Plan for 2022- 2023

Candor Health Education Family Resources

Candor Health Education Program Alignment to National Sex Education Standards

No student is required to participate in any class or course in comprehensive personal health and safety education. Parents or guardians may opt the student out of instruction by submitting a request in writing to their child’s school.