Plan for School Counselors to Issue Condoms Dropped

The Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District has scrapped plans to have a trained counselor in charge of distributing condoms, and instead will make condoms available to high school students with as little fuss as possible.

The school board unveiled its draft policy on the issue at a meeting Monday night and will probably formally adopt the policy on March 9. A similar plan for the Los Angeles district has generated heated debate among board members and parents, but no opposition has been raised in Santa Monica-Malibu schools. School board members had earlier said they thought condoms should be issued by a counselor, so that students’ questions could be answered and the students would be reminded that sexual abstinence provides the best protection against unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease. But after listening to passionate testimony from students that a counselor would deter many students from using condoms, the board members altered their position.

No vote was taken on the issue, but board members praised the draft policy.