Simi Sex Education Classes to Include Lessons on Birth Control : Schools: Some parents fear students will get mixed messages. But the board says the plan bolsters instruction on abstinence.

Over the objections of some parents, the Simi Valley school board Wednesday unanimously adopted a plan to add birth control information to sex education classes in the seventh and 10th grades.

Although some parents worried that discussing birth control would send students a mixed message, the board agreed in a 5-0 vote that the plan adequately beefs up lessons about sexual abstinence.

Board members Judy Barry and Doug Crosse at earlier meetings expressed opposition to the plan. The two decided to go along because of a few wording changes that they said made abstinence the most important lesson students will learn.

“This is the first time in a long time the board has really come together in making a tough decision, and it took a little bit of giving on everyone’s part,” Barry said after the meeting. “Everyone came out a winner.”

The remaining three board members agreed to the changes, which they said simply clarified the intent of the plan developed by a 25-member committee of teachers, parents, administrators and nurses.

“We want the same things,” board member Diane Collins said. “This meets the mom test.”

Board member Debbie Sandland, who initiated the debate last spring when she proposed adding birth control information to the curriculum, said she could live with the modifications.

“I think the only difference between myself and the people that want abstinence only is the only word,” Sandland said.

Some people on both sides of the issue said they were satisfied with the board’s compromise, although parents who have argued against the plan for months said the issue wasn’t totally put to rest.

“Our group’s concern is that the abstinence message is in outline form only, so the content still needs to be worked out,” said Ginny Murray, one of the leaders of a parents group that has fought the plan. “We’re just going to monitor it very closely.”

Some who support giving students birth control information said the board did not go far enough, because teachers will not be allowed to talk about how various birth control devices work.

“They’re going to have students do role-playing so they can learn to just say no,” said Paige Moser, a coordinator of the Simi Valley chapter of the National Organization for Women. “But what happens if they say yes?”

During board discussion late Tuesday, board members added three words to a committee’s recommendations saying abstinence will be stressed “as a standard.” Another language change said students would be taught the consequences of their actions.

Board member Crosse said the benefit of all the debate about sex education is that it has set a clear standard for teachers to follow. In the past, teachers have made their own decisions about what to teach, including about birth control, Crosse said.

But Crosse said he feared that formally placing birth control information in the curriculum is just the start of a trend toward more permissive sex education.

“I have a major concern, personally, about the foot-in-the-door aspect of introducing this,” Crosse said.

When the board voted, President Carla Kurachi heard five “aye” votes in favor, and no one opposed. She jokingly said, “Wait a minute. Are there any abstentions?”

Opponent Gary Morrison said he was pleasantly surprised by the unanimous vote, because Crosse and Barry won changes in the proposal for their votes.

“There was enough power with the three (board members) that wanted it, they could have passed the program in its unmodified state,” Morrison said. “We would have had to live with that.”

The next step will be for a committee of teachers and nurses to take the board’s direction to develop the specific program that teachers will use. Any materials chosen will be available for parents to review late this summer, said Leslie Crunelle, the district’s director of secondary education.

Any parent will have the option of removing a child from the class, Crunelle said.

The birth control debate began last April, after a routine board review of the sex education curriculum. First-term board member Sandland called the lack of birth control information a major gap in students’ learning.

To determine when and what students should learn about birth control, the board formed a committee, which began meeting in September. The committee’s recommendations were issued in December.

The panel said students should learn basic information in a one-hour lesson about birth control in the seventh grade, while a wider discussion of about two lessons would be reserved for high school sophomores.

The committee also recommended strengthening the teaching of abstinence by giving students skills to refuse an aggressive partner, resist peer pressure and build their self-esteem.