MOORPARK : Meeting Scheduled on Sex, AIDS Plan

A committee of teachers, administrators and parents that spent more than a year deciding how to teach Moorpark students about sex, AIDS and other human development issues will hear public reaction to its plan at a special forum today.

In several meetings during the past year, the group has devised new “Standards of Achievement” that detail what information should be presented to students from kindergarten to high school seniors.

Under the new proposals, kindergartners would be taught that acquired immune deficiency syndrome is a serious disease that cannot be transmitted by casual contact and that people with HIV or AIDS should be supported. The importance of saying “no” to avoid risky situations is also stressed.

Abstinence as a way of preventing AIDS is introduced in the fifth grade, when students also are told of the dangers of sharing needles. Students also learn then about the specific bodily fluids that carry the virus that causes AIDS.

While sex education and AIDS are already being discussed in district classes, Moorpark Assistant Supt. Frank DePasquale said the new plan updates existing lessons and exposes children to more information at a younger age.

“The old standards of achievement that we had were about four years old,” DePasquale said. “Of course, there’s a lot of updated information, and I would say there is an awareness level that is much higher than it was four years ago.”

The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. in Flory School, 240 Flory Ave. After the public’s comments, the committee will meet again to consider the reactions. It will then forward its recommendations to the Board of Education, which must adopt the guidelines before they are used in the schools.

Board President Tom Baldwin, who served on the committee, said he hopes that the group’s work will be acceptable to the community and his fellow board members.

“I don’t expect any real problems at the meeting,” Baldwin said. “There may be a few people who want us to go all the way, as far as passing out condoms, and some people who probably don’t want any sex education in Moorpark. I think this is a good, mainstream document.”

If there are no serious objections to the report’s content, DePasquale said, the matter could be before the board for consideration by the Nov. 24 meeting. Copies of the proposed standards are available for public review at all schools in the district.