CALABASAS : Schools to Expand AIDS Programs
Calling the first year of an AIDS awareness program for high school seniors a success, the Las Virgenes Unified School District has confirmed plans to expand the program next year to include sophomores and juniors.
The expansion of the program last year from a freshman workshop to a three-day awareness period for 12th-graders, including an assembly and related activities, dramatically exceeded state requirements that public high schools and middle schools offer one AIDS awareness session to their students.
The program stirred controversy among some parents when it was first considered, but school administrators say concern died down after parents learned more about it.
The curriculum includes an assembly with a variety of guest speakers and several smaller question-and-answer forums where students can ask HIV-AIDS mentors frank questions about topics concerning the disease and its prevention.
Last year, at Calabasas High School only one parent requested that a student be excluded from the three-day program, and at Agoura High School, no parents denied their students permission to participate, according to program coordinators at both schools.
“There was considerable consternation a year ago,” Assistant Supt. Leo Lowe said. “But no complaints have been registered with me this year.”
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