It appears the Little Egg Harbor Board of Education is finally ready to approve a controversial health and physical education curriculum that includes a state-mandated standard in regard to sexual identity and gender.

A board workshop meeting was held last Friday, ahead of the regularly scheduled BOE meeting on Feb. 21. It was apparently an attempt to shorten the time of the regular meetings, which have been running well over 2½ hours, and in one case over four hours, in recent months.