AUSTIN (KXAN) — A sex education workshop set to pay local high schoolers $100 to attend has been postponed, Austin Public Health (APH) confirmed to KXAN on Tuesday.

“Spring Break Sex-Ed Camp” was scheduled to take over four days from March 14-17 at three Austin Public Library branches and the Elroy Community Library, or virtually, depending on pandemic conditions.

An online advertisement posted to Austin Public Library’s social media last weekend stated teen attendees could “get $100 (plus lunch!)” for their participation.

The posts were later removed from Facebook and Twitter, and the event was taken off the library’s website calendar.

An Instagram post was still visible Tuesday morning with nearly 400 comments. Some users applauded the idea, though the vast majority were critical.

By Tuesday evening, the advertisement was gone entirely.

Removed social media ad for Spring Break Sex-Ed Camp (Image: City of Austin)

According to the now-closed registration website, the camp is being funded through a federal grant from the Health and Human Services Office of Population Affairs which focuses on teen pregnancy prevention.

APH said the workshop is part of its Austin Healthy Adolescent (AHA) Program which “has been serving the community since 2013 working to address high rates of unplanned teen pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections in our community.”

A statement sent to KXAN read, in part:

“Parent/guardian consent is required for participants under the age 18 in this particular health workshop. In order to better refine outreach and effectively approach the teens and their guardians who are in need of and want this education, the workshops which had been scheduled for March in partnership with Austin Public Library have been postponed to this summer.”

Austin Public health

APH said future updates would be shared on the Austin Healthy Adolescent webpage.

Note: This story was updated with new information.