WORCESTER, Mass. - Worcester Public Schools Superintendent Rachel Monarrez said she put a stop to plans for students at the La Familia School to be shuttled to Worcester East Middle School for sex education classes.

The La Familia School is located at the site of the former St. Stephen School on Grafton Street, and the building is owned by the Diocese of Worcester. The Diocese told the school's principal there was an agreement to take students off campus for sex education classes. 

Howver, Monarrez said that was never agreed upon in the contract between the Diocese and the district.

"A school for children, and especially young children, is like a home, and when you are requiring children to learn somewhere else, it can send an unintended message that there is something wrong with what they're learning," Monarrez said.

"And then, that creates forms of shame that we don't want to do for our children. So, we want all of our children to thrive and feel successful and knowledgeable in everything that we teach them and taking them off campus would send a very confusing message to them."

La Familia serves students in pre-k through sixth grade and is the only fully dual language school in the district.