Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Sulphur Springs Board Approves After-School AIDS Program

Despite opposition, trustees of the Sulphur Springs Union School District unanimously approved a voluntary, after-school AIDS education program that will require students to bring a parent along.

Most of the nearly 100 parents who attended Wednesday’s school board meeting opposed the program, saying the elementary school district was usurping their right to decide how their children are educated.

“When the time comes for my children to learn about sex, I will be there to teach them and I will teach them abstinence,” said Jodi Dewhirst, a parent.

Other parents said children in kindergarten through sixth-grade are too young to learn about AIDS.

“If you tell my 5-year-old son about AIDS . . . you are going to have to go into every single detail about what homosexuality is about,” said Gary DeRevere of Newhall. “And I don’t want my 5-year-old to be hearing about it.”

Some parents spoke out in favor of the program, saying AIDS is already on the minds and lips of children in the playground.

“There is a great deal of misinformation at the elementary grade level and we need to address that,” Jeff Hyde said.

School officials insist that they have done everything possible to ensure that parents will have control over how much their children will learn about AIDS.

First, officials said the voluntary program would be at night and would not take away from instruction during the day. Second, parents are invited to attend an orientation night where they will be allowed to review the program before it is shown to students.

Finally, officials said students would only see the program if accompanied by a parent.

“I have to be responsive to the 80% of the parents who asked for help in teaching their children,” said school board member Ethelyn Glancy, citing a district survey that showed that parents supported an AIDS education program.

Although the state Education Code does not require that elementary schools teach about AIDS, Sulphur Springs school officials said that providing information on the disease is important.

“We have a problem in education, both of our parents and our students, in common sense health measures,” board member Scott Seamonssaid at the meeting.

Last month, the Lancaster School District board approved an AIDS education program for its kindergarten through sixth-grade classes. But, unlike the Sulphur Springs program, instruction will be during regular school hours. Parent permission is required.