NEBRASKA- The human growth and development section of the new sex ed draft, which proposed teaching children about gender identity and sexual orientation, drew a “record level of feedback,” Education Commissioner Matt Blomstedt wrote in a March 27 email to Nebraska State Board of Education members, his cabinet and staff.

The public opposition, Blomstedt wrote, had left the board and employees “feeling a little back on our heels.”

He expressed optimism, however, that there was a path forward, reminding them that “the standards are intended to be a community consensus of what we teach children.”

The only consensus now is that the writing process failed to produce standards that all Nebraskans would accept.

Protect Nebraska Children Coalition alleges that emails and text messages they obtained via a public records request show that Neary overstepped her bounds as a policymaker and behaved behind the scenes as an advocate to influence the creation of the standards.

The emails show Neary urged the department to use an advocate of comprehensive sex education, employed by the Women’s Fund of Omaha, as an adviser in the standards process and also arranged to invite the standards writers and her board colleagues to an invitation-only workshop with a national sex-ed advocate.

Neary denies involvement in writing the standards and says her actions were appropriate for a board member. She said her aim was to create standards that would prepare “our students to be successful in the complex world that they will graduate into.”

Neary blames Ricketts, who she says “completely hijacked” the process.

The emails and texts, reviewed by The World-Herald, as well as interviews, provide a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the writing and review process that was initiated in 2019, as well as the firestorm that erupted after the first draft went public.

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