- By Dan Veaner
- Around Town
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Lansing is divided on what programs are appropriate when teaching students about sex and avoiding communicable disease. The Health Advisory committee has met for a total of eight hours to consider how to fit state mandates into the picture of what is appropriate for Lansing.
Elementary school health teacher Lisa LeVigne outlined the current health curriculum and how AIDs transmission is currently handled. She pointed out that it is a very small part of the curriculum.
School Board members Christine Iacobucci, Dan Brown, Bonita Lindberg
The committee's recommendation makes five points, including that teachers will choose HIV/AIDS prevention supplemental programs for students, that an opt out provision will be provided to all families prior to any such presentation, and that the teachers will preview all presentations before choosing them.
Board Vice President Christine Iacobucci asked members of the committee who were present why Ithaca Pregnancy Center (IPC) was included on the list of recommended programs, since many parents found it controversial. This sparked a heated discussion about the merits of the IPC presentation, with some parents accusing IPC of being intolerant toward non-conventional families, and the presentation of making children feel bad about who they are if they do not come from a traditional husband and wife first marriage. Others felt the presentation inserts religious beliefs where a purely biological discussion would be more appropriate.
Some parents felt the IPC presentation is appropriate and it was noted by committee members that as many parents wanted it as didn't.
School Board President Dan Brown noted that provisions in the recommendation would mitigate parents' objections, because teachers would review presentations, and because of the second provision in the recommendation, which says,
"Groups will be asked to tailor presentations in the following manner:
- No mention of or references to religion
- No illusion of making students feel badly about unhealthy choices
- In accordance with the Commissioner's Regulations the emphasis of any supplemental training will be on abstinance. The committee stipulates that the emphasis on abstinance should be 100% in the Middle School and at least 75% in the High School"
Mr. Brown also said he trusts professional teachers to make good choices.
Ms. Iacobucci criticized the committee for not adequately informing the public about when and where meetings would take place. She read a lengthy letter from a parrent who preferred to remain anonymous that complained of the difficulty of finding out how to attend meetings. It was noted that the school board meeting itself would have been a good forum for parents to attend, but the agenda had not been placed on the school board's Web site before the meeting so there was no advertised advanced notice.
At one point Mr. Brown had difficulty keeping the discussion on the topic of whether or not the School Board should approve the committee's recommendation as parents argued about the meaning of a part of the IPC presentation in which a band aid is stuck to an actor's sleeve, then another's and another's, showing how with each sleeve its ability to stick is lessened. Some present were offended that this was used to illustrate there could be less love in a second marriage whether due to death or divorce. He finally insisted that people could speak only if they had something new to say that was specifically on topic. Ms. LeVigne noted that all these topics had been covered by the committee in eight hours of meetings.
The School Board voted on the recommendation leter in the evening, accepting it 6-1 with Ms. Iacobucci voting no.