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OGDEN — Weber State University officials and local school districts determined Thursday that the college will not offer certain concurrent-enrollment courses next year if the controversial HB363 is passed into law.
The bill would mandate abstinence-only sex education, creating a conflict with certain of Weber State's Child and Family Studies courses that include content that would be in violation of the law.
Weber State officials contacted administrators at Davis and Weber school districts to discuss whether, if the bill is passed, the university's curriculum would meet the new standards for sex education.
"We realized HB363 would impact some of our concurrent enrollment courses, so as a professional courtesy we went to the school districts," said Allison Barlow Hess, a Weber State spokesperson. "Together, we came to this assessment."
Hess said about 1,000 students will be affected by the changes, if they become necessary.
Some are worried that other Utah universities will be forced to follow suit if the schools offer similar courses.
"This is horrible," said Rep. Joel Briscoe, D-HD25, in a statement. "Not only will HB363 strip parents of the right to choose for themselves how they want their kids taught sex ed, but now we're seeing that high school students are going to be denied the opportunity to take college courses."
The sponsor of the bill, Bill Wright, R-HD68, and other universities could not be reached for comment.
