Briese, Gragert oppose proposed health standards

Briese and Timothy Gragert, who represent Antelope and Holt counties, respectively, in the state legislature, joined 28 other senators, Thursday, urging the Nebraska Department of Education to reject proposed health standards.

Statehouse officials urged local school boards to adopt a resolution in opposition to the proposed standards.

According to the letter, “Nebraskans have spoken loud and clear - they do not want their children subjected to the health education standards proposed by the Nebraska Department of Education.”

The proposed standards include eight content strands, including foundations of personal health, nutrition and physical activity, substance abuse prevention, disease prevention, injury prevention and safety, social, emotion and mental health, consumer and environmental health and human growth and development.

The draft copy of the standards, unveiled in March 2021 and available online at cdn.education.ne.gov, state “...they do not prescribe particular curriculum, lessons, teaching techniques or activities.”

Since being introduced, the standards have met strong criticism for introducing types of family structures in kindergarten, gender identity in first grade and sexual health in third grade.

Other standards introduced in the proposal focus on aspects of mental health in grades kindergarten through eighth grade, environmental health concerns, including how to identify and seek shelter from a storm in kindergarten, proper handwashing techniques in first grade and nutrition information and meal planning in eighth grade.

The Summerland Public School Board of Education is expected to address the topic at Monday’s regular meeting, which will begin at 6 p.m., in Ewing.

If the state board of education approves the standards, adoption or rejection, at the local level, would be left to the discretion of individual school districts.