By Susan Bromley

Staff Writer

Brandon Twp.

– It’s time to have the talk.

The school board gave their blessing to Superintendent Matt Outlaw and Athletic Director Chris Deines to “dig in” to sex education in the district, investigating what is currently taught in health classes and what changes need to be made.

Deines, who is the new athletic director this school year, oversees the physical education and health department. In a workshop discussion with the board preceding their Nov. 21 meeting, he said he met with health teachers in the district last month to review the sex education curriculum, which is supposed to be abstinence-based, but appears to be almost non-existent.

Deines noted that in the past, fifth and sixth graders had a “Grow Up Day” that is no longer being conducted and currently, teachers deflect student questions about sex.

“The general feeling or consensus (among teachers) is that the community has blinders to the issues— there are no drug or sex problems (in the district),” said Deines. “For every parent that wants sex ed in the schools, there are three or four who don’t. The teachers are not properly equipped to discuss sex education and want and need more training.”

Outlaw asked for the board’s go-ahead on learning about how things were done in the past in regards to sex education and things the district might want to reinstate through discussions with teachers and examination of what other districts are doing.

“There is a disconnect between what we thought was going on and what is going on,” he said. “There are issues and we want the board’s blessing to dig in. We think there are big holes (in the sex education curriculum).”

“Abstinence (instruction) is the path of least resistance,” said Board President Kevin McClellan, noting that there is disagreement about whether it is the school’s job or parent’s job to talk to kids about sex. “Our policy is students first. There is a lot of information not getting out there. I want to explore the options further.”

Outlaw said administrators could make really good tweaks to the sex education curriculum and still teach abstinence only, although Board Vice-President Lisa Kavalhuna questioned whether that was the direction the district wanted to go.

“I’m not sure if abstinence is the one to have in this day and age,” she said.

On Tuesday, Outlaw said the district is currently doing the basic things required by state law.

According to the Michigan Department of Education’s summary of legal obligations and best practices in regards to HIV/STI and sex education in public schools, “districts are required to teach about dangerous communicable diseases, including, but not limited to, HIV/AIDS. Instruction regarding dangerous communicable diseases, including, but not limited to, HIV/AIDS, must be offered at least once a year at every building level (elementary, middle/junior, senior high). School districts can choose to teach sex education. If they do, they must do so in accordance with those sections of the Michigan Compiled Laws (MCL) related to sex education and reproductive health.

For HIV/AIDS and sex education instruction, parents and/or legal guardians must be notified in advance of the content of the instruction and their rights to review materials in advance, observe instruction and excuse their child without penalty.

If a district teaches sex education, a Sex Education Advisory Board must be in place and at least half the members of said board must be parents with a child enrolled in the district. The board is responsible for establishing program goals and objectives for pupil knowledge and skills that are likely to reduce the rates of sex, pregnancy, and STDs; reviewing and recommending materials and methods to the local school board, taking into consideration the district’s needs, demographics, and trends including, butnot limited to, teenage pregnancy rates, STD rates, and incidents of sexual violence and harassment; evaluating, measuring, and reporting the attainment of program goals and objectives and making the resulting report available to parents in the district at least once every two years.

Outlaw said currently, students take a 7th grade health class and high school health classes that are required for graduation.

“In most districts, fifth grade is where students get an introduction to changes their bodies are undergoing,” said Outlaw. “They are not getting that anymore and this is one of the areas we want to talk about. We can’t make any decisions regarding sex ed in a unilateral way, we have to get feedback and there is a set process… I think with sex education there is a very delicate balance between the role of the parent and the role of the school and for us, it’s very important to be respectful of the parent role and their wishes. We are committed to abstinence education, but think there are ways to improve what schools are doing without interfering with the role of the parent. We’ll start working on it right away internally, examining grade by grade, and explore what other abstinence-based districts are doing.”

Instruction in HIV/AIDS and sex education must stress that abstinence from sex is a responsible and effective method of preventing unplanned or out-of-wedlock pregnancy, and that it is the only protection that is 100% effective against unplanned pregnancy, sexually transmitted disease, and sexually transmitted HIV infection and AIDS. (§380.1169, §380.1507, §380.1507b)

Instruction in HIV/AIDS must include the principal modes by which dangerous communicable diseases are spread and the best methods for the restriction and prevention of these diseases. (§380.1169)

Sex education material discussing sex must be age-appropriate, must not be medically inaccurate, and must do all of the following:

a. Discuss the benefits of abstaining from sex until marriage and the benefits of ceasing sex if a pupil is sexually active.

b. Include a discussion of the possible emotional, economic, and legal consequences of sex.

c. Stress that unplanned pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases are serious possibilities of sexual intercourse that are not fully preventable except by abstinence.

d. Advise pupils of the laws pertaining to their responsibility as parents to children born in and out of wedlock.

e. Ensure that pupils are not taught in a way that condones the violation of laws of this state pertaining to sexuality, including, but not limited to, those relating to sodomy, indecent exposure, gross indecency, and criminal sexual conduct in the first, second, third, and fourth degrees.

f. Teach pupils how to say “no” to sexual advances and that is wrong to take advantage of, harass, or exploit another person sexually.

g. Teach refusal skills and encourage pupils to resist pressure to engage in risky behavior.

h. Teach that the pupil has the power to control personal behavior, and teach pupils to base their actions on reasoning, self-discipline, a sense of responsibility, self-control, and ethical considerations, such as respect for self and others.

i. Provide instruction on healthy dating relationships and on how to set limits and recognize a dangerous environment.

j. Provide information for pupils about how young parents can learn more about adoption services and about the provisions of the Safe Delivery of Newborns Law.

k. Include information clearly informing pupils that having sex or sexual contact with an individual under the age of 16 is a crime punishable by imprisonment and that one of the other results of being convicted of this crime may be to be listed on the sex offender registry for 15 years, 25 years, or life. (§380.1507b)

Allowed Content Regarding Risk Reduction:

School districts must teach about the best methods for the restriction and prevention of dangerous communicable diseases, including, but not limited to HIV/AIDS. (§380.1169)

Districts are not prohibited from teaching about behavioral risk reduction strategies, including the use of condoms, within their sex education program. (§380.1507)

Prohibited Content or Actions:

Clinical abortion cannot be considered a method of family planning, nor can abortion be taught as a method of reproductive health. (§380.1507) “Family planning” means to regulate the number and spacing of children in a family through the practice of contraception or other methods of birth control. “Reproductive health” means that state of an individual’s well-being which involves the reproductive system and its physiological, psychological, and endocrinological functions. (§380.1506)

A person cannot dispense or otherwise distribute a family planning drug ordevice, dispense prescriptions for a family planning drug, or make referrals for abortions in a public school or on public school property. (§380.1507, 388.1766)