Dear Zion families,
Greetings in Christ! As many of you may know, the Nebraska Dept. of Education has proposed a new set of health standards for Nebraska schools. We have been getting calls from concerned parents (current & prospective) inquiring about our stance towards these. The following is our position statement on these proposed standards:
Zion Lutheran School offers its students and families a Christ-centered, classical education. We teach health, wellness, and human growth thru our science curriculum and areas that intersect with culture, such as God’s gift of sexuality, marriage, and family through our Bible-based religion curriculum. The faculty and board of Zion Lutheran School have received the proposed Nebraska Health Education Standards and are still in the early stages of sifting thru the full document. Our immediate concern focuses primarily on the seventh of the eight content strands: Human Growth and Development. Much of the content of this strand reflects specific ideological values that are not in harmony with Christian teaching. We believe that the teaching of morality in the public school is an overstep of their authority and infringes on that of the parent and the church. Furthermore, we are deeply concerned for our colleagues who teach in the public system and the compromise of belief and conscience that they will be forced to make. In conclusion, Zion will not adopt any such standards as those proposed in this strand and will work hard to remain faithful to our ultimate set of curriculum standards, the Bible.
Please also find (archived in DOCUMENTS) a Kearney Hub article covering the topic with local statements, as well as a fact-sheet from our friends at the Catholic Conference that clearly highlights problem areas. Also, we encourage parents to submit their concerns through the public survey.
Even if your child does not attend public school, the effects of these standards as proposed would be far reaching, subversive, and counter to Christian teaching in the church and home.
In Christ, The Zion Lutheran School Board of Education