Dozens show up to oppose sex education curriculum for Hillsborough schools

TAMPA — Incensed by the Hillsborough County School Board’s choice of sex education curriculum in September, more than 3,000 parents and other residents petitioned the district in hopes of forcing a change.

On Thursday, dozens of the objectors urged an independent hearing officer to recommend that the board drop its choice and start over. They told retired judge Claudia Isom that the curriculum did not encourage abstinence-based lessons, as state law requires if sex education is taught, and that many of the materials are inappropriate for students in seventh through ninth grades.