Georgetown ISD's sex education curriculum could be getting an update.

The district's School Health Advisory Council is forming a committee to renew or update the curriculum and make recommendations to the council. Any changes would be brought to the district's curriculum administrators and then go before the board of trustees for final approval, said Mary McKenna, director of Health and Safety Services with GISD.

"You need to periodically review what you're doing as far as sex education," McKenna said, adding that it has been several years since it was last updated.

The programs the committee would review are universal and evidence-based, she said, and vetted by the Texas Department of State Health Services.

Sex education should be a community-driven initiative, she said.

McKenna is looking for participation from parents, community leaders, physicians and child advocates, and said she hopes to have the committee formed in early March so that any changes to the curriculum can be implemented during the 2013–14 school year.

She also said she hopes to have some involvement from older students with parental permission to help the committee update the curriculum in a way that reaches all students.

"We want these kids to be successful," McKenna said.

The curriculum begins in the fourth grade with lessons on puberty, and each year another topic is added, she said.

Parents are notified of the lessons in advance and can say no to allowing their children's participation if they would rather handle it themselves, she said.

"Those conversations need to start," McKenna said, and some parents would rather someone else broach the topic first.

For more information on the committee, email McKenna at [email protected].