Police were called to Halton’s Catholic board after a motion seeking to delay teaching Ontario’s new sex-ed curriculum failed, sparking conflict among a large crowd gathered in the foyer.

The fracas occurred just days before another large rally is planned at Queen’s Park — this Sunday — to protest the new health and physical education lessons, which are the first update to sex-ed in this province in more than two decades.

“There were a couple of altercations, people saying things to one another — there were some passionate people in the boardroom” but overall the debate was “very respectful,” said Jane Michael, chair of the Halton Catholic District School Board.

“It was outside the boardroom where things got a bit heated.”

More than 100 people were packed into the foyer after seats in the public gallery filled. Witnesses said they heard people screaming, references to teaching young children about gay sex, and at one point one person spat in another person’s face. That’s when police were called. Officers later returned after confrontations spilled over into the parking lot. No charges were laid.

The motion, by Oakville Trustee Anthony Danko, said more than 100,000 Ontarians have signed petitions against the new curriculum because it is “graphic” and “age inappropriate” and that he wanted the board to delay implementation for one year.

His motion said the curriculum violates Catholic teachings because it refers to masturbation as “pleasurable” and “not harmful,” and “promotes anal and oral sex at an inappropriate age” and makes no mention of love or marriage.

But Michael, who expected she would be the one to cast the tie-breaking vote, said much of what parents oppose is not curriculum but so-called “teacher prompts” — which provide advice to teachers on how to answer sensitive questions students may ask and aren’t part of what’s mandatory.

Michael sought both legal and spiritual advice before Tuesday night’s meeting, where the motion died in a 5-4 vote.

“I tried to cover all the bases so I would make a wise decision,” she said, adding she consulted both the bishop and cardinal. Legally, she was told if the board does not implement the curriculum this fall, the ministry of education could send in a supervisor and take over the board.

And with the Catholic bishops and the Institute for Catholic Education already working on resources to help teachers with the new lessons, she is confident it will “reflect the Catholic lens.”

Michael said she received about 20 calls a day in the lead-up to the meeting, some of them robocalls from a number in Alberta.

However, she noted, of the 30,000 families in Halton, just 200 wrote letters to the board regarding the issue.

Those voting in favour of the motion were Danko, Susan Trites, Helena Karabela and Anthony Quinn. Those who voted against it were Michael, Arlene Iantomasi, John Mark Rowe, Diane Rabenda and Paul Marai, as well as the board’s three student trustees — although their votes are symbolic only.

The Halton Catholic board, in the past, had at one point banned gay-straight alliance groups for students, as well as balked at providing HPV vaccines in schools.

Meanwhile, given the ongoing controversy among some religious and parent groups over the modernized curriculum, the Ontario government has launched a $1.8 million advertising campaign to explain the program.

Lets talk about sex: What’s actually in Ontario’s new health curriculum

Grade 1: Correctly naming private parts; recognizing “exploitive behaviours” such as inappropriate touching. A “teacher prompt” encourages students to talk about “all body parts with respect” so they understand that “If I’m hurt or need help, and I know the right words, other people will know what I’m talking about.”

Grade 3: Same-sex families, in the context of reflecting all families and respecting differences; introduction of gender identity (the curriculum refers to six kinds of gender identity — male, female, two-spirited, transgender, transsexual and intersex).

Grade 4: Puberty and social/romantic relationships; online safety, text messaging and “sexual pictures.”

Grade 5: How pregnancy occurs.

Grade 6: Building healthy relationships, the notion of consent, and combating stereotypes. If asked, teachers can say masturbation is “common and is not harmful and is one way of learning about your body.”

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Grade 7: Learning to communicate that they don’t want to have sex, including anal sex; how delaying sexual activity is best. Also, how STIs are transmitted during sex, including anal sex. Also, risks of “sexting.”

Grade 8: Understanding gender identity, including transgender identity as well as various sexual orientations; identifying how to “help individuals of all identities and orientations develop a positive self-concept.” Contraception/preventing pregnancy.