Florida district drops 'sexualized' CDC student survey after letter from DeSantis-backed education official

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A Florida school district will no longer use a CDC survey given to students in middle school and high school regarding their sexual activity and gender identity after pushback from parents and the state commissioner of education.

Duval County Public Schools is not conducting the CDC's 2023 Youth Behavior Risk Survey after Florida's Commissioner of Education Manny Diaz Jr. fired off a letter last week to the county's superintendent, Dr. Diana Greene, according to local News4Jax.

Diaz, who was unanimously appointed to his position last year by the State Board of Education following an endorsement from Gov. Ron DeSantis, wrote in his letter that he was "strongly urging" the district to drop the survey.

He also expressed "grave concerns" about what he described as the survey's "leading questions phrased in such a way that may actually introduce risky behaviors to students, prompting them to engage in potentially detrimental activities."

"Instead of asking students highly controversial and extremely personal questions from the CDC Survey, you should re-focus your efforts on teaching and learning as the end of the school year quickly approaches."

The CDC questionnaire, a version of which is given to students as young as sixth grade, asks young people about various risky behaviors that might have engaged in, including unprotected sexual intercourse. The surveys also touch on behaviors such as drugs, drinking and smoking.

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The version given to high school students asks more in-depth questions regarding gender identity and sexual activity, including what forms of contraception students have used, the number and gender of their sexual partners, and whether they were ever forced to engage in sexual activity without their consent. Students are also asked to log their sexual orientation.

"I strongly urge you to reconsider having your students participate in the CDC survey," Diaz wrote in his letter. "Instead of asking students highly controversial and extremely personal questions from the CDC Survey, you should re-focus your efforts on teaching and learning as the end of the school year quickly approaches."

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Florida Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. speaks at a news conference at Crooms Academy of Information Technology on June 30, 2022, in Sanford, Florida. (Orlando Sentinel/Contributor)

The Florida Department of Health also informed the school district that it was terminating its contract for providing data collection and evaluation for the survey, the letter also said. Diaz said Florida is planning to roll out its own version of the survey for students that would keep from "exposing them to sexually explicit concepts."

The Duval chapter of the group Moms for Liberty issued a press release last week calling on the school district to circulate the survey to parents before giving it to students, require parents to opt in to allow their children to take it and eliminate sexual questions.

"We wanted the school district to do an opt-in rather than an opt-out if they’re going do the survey, and then we were asking for them to strike any question on the survey that’s asking minors about sexual orientation, sexual activity, sexual history or gender identity," Rebecca Nathanson, chair of the Moms for Liberty Duval County Chapter, said in a statement to the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Florida is slated to roll out its own version of a survey gauging risky youth behavior for students without "exposing them to sexually explicit concepts." (iStock)

"Since 2009, the YRBS has been used to provide the district and health partners with extensive data about the experiences of our students and the services they need," Superintendent Greene said in a statement.

"We know we are serving multiple students as young as middle school who are already moms and dads. Even though this survey is going away, we will do our best to remain attentive to the experiences and behaviors of our students and continue to work with other community partners to address their needs," Greene added.

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According to the results of the Youth Behavior Risk Survey in 2021, nearly one in four middle school students in Duval County had thought of a plan to take their own lives.